How a Girl Became a Woman (with the help of a dragon)
by IrishDreamer4
Summary: fem!Hiccup! male!Astrid! Hanna Haddock left the island of Berk for a new life. Years went by and she became a woman. But Hanna will learn that she'll still have a lot of maturing to do after her past and destiny catches up with her...
1. Defying Gravity

**Disclaimer:** I do not own 'How To Train Your Dragon' or the awesome song, 'Defying Gravity' from Wicked, cover by Glee.

* * *

It happened so fast for Hanna Horrendous Valka Haddock III.

One minute she was running through the forests after getting banished by her own father, the next she and Toothless were diving towards the Red Death, shutting her eyes as hot flames consumed her and her dragon…

Her eyes opened when she felt the impact of a crash landing on ground. Toothless unshielded his wings off her.

She smiled at him. "Thanks, bud."

She tried to stand up, only to end up screaming in pain and stumbled. Toothless caught her before she fell.

"Ow…" She moaned and looked down. Her left leg was burnt and cut, blood slowly flowing out from under her skin. With a shaky hand, she touched her leg and quickly brought it back, her leg stinging painfully.

She heard a shout from a man she knew too well.

"Daddy…"

She struggled to stand up, helped by Toothless, and ready to run, well _limp_ , toward her father. She could see his _huge_ form through the smoke. She stepped forward to hug him at last and get that warmth that had been lost since her mother died.

"Hiccup!"

But she stopped. Something in her broke.

"HICCUP!"

She turned back to Toothless and pulled herself onto his back.

"Let's go."

Toothless nodded in understanding and flew off silently.

" _HICCUUUPPP!"_

The sad thing was that…that wasn't even her real name.

* * *

It was near darkness when Hanna finally looked back, seeing no sign of Berk. Toothless rumbled beneath her and she patted his side.

"Its ok, bud. We'll find a new home. It's just the two of us." She sat up seeing nothing but clouds. "Alone in the great, big, unfriendly world! Yeah. Just great!"

Her sarcasm didn't help uplift her spirits. The clouds started to move apart and Hanna glanced over, just in time to see a mysterious person in a bizarre suit appearing to be flying in thin air. Hanna stared at the figure's dragonsque mask until it disappeared under the clouds.

"Okay, no sudden moves." She hissed to a growling Night Fury.

Suddenly, a roaring dragon shot out right before them.

"Whoa!"

When it turned around, it shocked the girl with the reveal of possessing not one but TWO pairs of wings, meaning it had FOUR wings! On toll was the strange rider, staring at her.

"Hold on, hold on."

Toothless growled in response.

"Ah!" Out of the blue, another dragon snatched Hanna. Without his rider, Toothless fell and crashed through the ice-laced water.

" _Toothless…!"_ Hanna screamed. "Hey! You left my dragon back there! He can't fly on his own! He'll drown!"

She didn't get an answer from the mysterious figure. She looked around, seeing dragons, many kinds she had never seen before, all following the four-winged dragon and the figure to a huge glacier like looked like a hedgehog's spikes. The dragon flew through a tunnel leading to a rocky inside and Hanna was dropped there.

Hanna stood while limping on one leg, scared of the numerous dragons surrounding her. The growls and snarls and hisses weren't friendly to her ears.

She shrieked when she felt something wet helping themselves to her left leg. She looked, seeing a dragon licking her bloody leg. Her leg was stinging but the saliva had healed most of it, only leaving her leg feeling dead.

"Uh…thanks?"

Then she raised her head and saw her kidnapper. And the stranger.

"Who are you?" She demanded, no patience for asking. The stranger didn't answer. "Why am I here?" No answer. "Do you even understand what I'm saying?" Nothing. Hanna palmed her forehead. "Oh crud, what have I got myself into?"

The stranger spun his staff, making a strange sound and then another dragon dropped Toothless down.

"Toothless!" Hanna cried. Toothless practically bounced over to her and she nuzzled his head. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm glad to see you too, bud." She kissed his scaly forehead. "You really had me worried there."

Toothless licked her, making her giggle. The stranger used his staff again. Dragons opened their mouths and lit up fire to brighten the place. Toothless growled, getting protective as the stranger got down on his hands, moving like a dragon towards him and Hanna.

The Night Fury wrapped his tail around Hanna and glared forward, snarling but the stranger just waved a hand and Toothless rolled over in a goofy daze.

"Toothless!" Hanna gasped. Then hands gasped her and the dragon-masked figure stared long and hard at her, as if studying her. A finger danced on the young girl's face before lingering on the small, faded scar on her chin.

Suddenly, the stranger jumped back, releasing her.

"… _Hanna?"_

Said girl noticed his voice sounded…feminine.

"C-could it be? After all these years? How's this possible?"

Hanna raised a brow. "Ah…Should I know you?"

"…No…" Slowly, hands went to his mask. "You were only a babe…" He removed the mask from his revealed face, looking to her with big green eyes. Same as Hanna's. "But a mother never forgets."

Hanna gasped, wide eyes staring at him-her!

" _MOM?!"_

* * *

Finding out that your deceased mother was alive and in hiding wasn't much of a nice surprise.

There was a lot of screaming from Hanna at her mother. Years of bottled up frustrations, sadness and anger just exploded immediately.

After screaming her lungs dry, Hanna stormed, well limped, outside, out to the cold air where she immediately shivered.

"Hanna dear…"

Hanna shrugged, moving away from her mother.

Valka sighed. "I know how this is hard for you…"

"Hard?" Hanna sprung around, furious as a dragon once again. "I'm not the wailing baby you left behind. I went through brutal neglect and bullying for being born a hiccup! Now I'm a traitor for finding out we Viking are truly idiots about dragons, so yeah, this is hard for me!"

Although Hanna had done nothing but scream at her mother, Valka couldn't help but laugh with delight, her green eyes marveling at her daughter. "After all this time, you took after me. But you have your father's temper."

" _So…_ having your charming looks and personality explains why dad treats me like a stranger." Hanna grumbled. Then she sighed, casting her eyes down. "I tried to be a Viking and make dad proud…but…it's just so hard to fit in…when you're so different from everyone else."

Valka laid a gentle hand on Hanna's shoulder. "Believe me, I tried as well. But people are not capable of change, Hanna. Some of us…were just born different." She glanced to Cloudjumper, his eyes blinking and head nodding at her head before he flew off. "Berk was a land of kill or be killed, but I believed peace was possible. It was a very unpopular opinion. Then, one night, a dragon broke into our house, finding you in the cradle. I rushed to protect you, but what I saw... was proof of everything I believed…This wasn't a vicious beast, but an intelligent, gentle creature, whose soul reflected my own." Her eyes clouded with sad remembrance of the last time she saw her husband and daughter.

" _No! Ah, Stoick!_ "

" _Valka!_ "

" _Stoick!_ "

" _Valka…_ "

"…You and your father nearly died that night…all because I couldn't kill a dragon."

For the first time in a while, Hanna smiled. "Runs in the family."

Valka chuckled, smiling at her. Later on, she was showing her the dragons she rescued over the years. Due to her bad leg, Hanna rode on Toothless during the entire tour. Then Valka presented the Bewilderbeast and explained how it was the king of the dragons.

As the gigantic white dragon began to rise up, she knelt in respect with her head bowed. All dragons, Cloudjumper included, bowed before the beast. Even Toothless had the urge to follow their example.

Only Hanna stood out by not bowing. She stared in wide-eyed wonder up at it. The Bewilderbeast stared down on her, not bothered with her lack of respectful display. Then the beast gently but strongly blew a giant breath of cold frost at Hanna, coating her in white sparkles.

Valka laughed. "He likes ya."

Hanna shook her hair and stared back to the beast. "Whoa…" Then she limped again but ended up tripping over her dead leg. Her mother rushed over to help her.

"My baby..." She ran a hand down her child's cheek. She looked to her dead leg and hugged her, dreading what has to be done.

* * *

By tomorrow, Hanna was in a bed of leaves and flowers that was actually soft and warm, with one leg cut from the knee. Her dead leg had to be cut off, no other way around it or else she wanted to limp forever. She lay against Toothless as her pillow, while she built a prosthetic leg for herself. The other dragons were extremely helpful, bringing her metal and tools.

When she received a hammer, she lingered on the tool, feeling strange. Like…something was changing inside of her.

 _Something has changed within me_

 _Something is not the same_

She went on working on her leg, working at it until she was finally finished and satisfied. She put it on and tried to walk, only to slip.

 _I'm through with playing by the rules_

 _Of someone else's game_

Toothless swiftly swooped in and caught her, breaking her fall. She took a couple more steps to try it out and got the hang of it. Then she got onto Toothless and took off flying, Valka waiting for her.

 _Too late for second-guessing_

 _Too late to go back to sleep_

Mother and daughter and their dragons flew in cold air outside.

Then Hanna looked over her shoulder, seeing the entire dragon colony flying behind.

"Hey mom, I thought we were going to eat!"

 _It's time to trust my instincts_

 _Close my eyes and leap!_

"Oh, we are!" Valka stood up on Cloudjumper and held her hand out, motioning Hanna, Toothless and the dragons to stop.

Hanna followed her mother's looking down gaze where she could hear rumbling…in the ocean?

 _It's time to try defying gravity_

Out of the blue, the alpha Bewilderbeast shot out of the water and spit out millions of fish from its mouth.

 _I think I'll try defying gravity_

Hanna's mouth was hung open as fish rained on her and hungry dragons whereas Valka laughed joyfully.

 _Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity_

Toothless, obviously hungry dove down, going at an incredible fast speed, forcing Hanna to grip tight on the saddle.

 _And you won't bring me down!_

Toothless ended up with a mouth full of fish, more than he can chew or swallow.

 _I'm through accepting limits_

 _'Cause someone says they're so_

Afterwards, Valka brought Hanna to an updraft where the dragons were hovering in. Hanna couldn't help smiling and so can Toothless.

 _Some things I cannot change_

 _But 'til I try, I'll never know!_

Valka began dancing from one dragon to another in the air. She reached out, taking Hanna's hand and making her dance along.

At first Hanna was clumsy but after much practice she got the hang of dancing in the updraft. Her dress flew up, forcing her to grasp it and make her do Marilyn Monroe's famous white dress scene.

 _Too long I've been afraid of_

 _Losing love I guess I've lost_

Getting back on Cloudjumper, Valka sighed happily with the wind in her face. "Oh, when I'm up here, I don't even feel the cold, I just feel…"

"Free." Hanna completed

Valka turned to smile at her daughter and then closed her eyes and opened her arms, welcoming the breeze. "This is what it is to be a dragon, Hiccup."

 _Well, if that's love_

 _It comes at much too high a cost!_

Hanna breathed in as well, feeling the sense of freedom rushing through her veins.

She loved the sensations it brought, wonders she never tasted before.

 _I'd sooner buy defying gravity_

Land, they landed on a snowy mountain. Toothless plays in the snow, showing off to an unamused Cloudjumper.

 _Kiss me goodbye,_

Hanna giggled at the sight until she stopped when Valka touched her shoulder, looking remorseful.

 _I'm defying gravity_

"I'm so sorry, Hanna. Can we start over? Will you give me another chance? I can teach you all that I've learned these past fourteen years. Like…"

 _I think I'll try defying gravity_

Valka went over and massaged Toothless' back, particularly on one spot, which caused a series of hidden spikes to pop up, extending from the nape of his neck to the end of his tail.

"Now you can make tight, daring turns."

 _And you won't bring me down!_

Toothless, didn't even know about the splitting fins on him and he happily jumped around, showing them off.

Hanna was in awe at the new discovery. "Did you know about that?"

With a smile bare as his name, Toothless flapped his new wings.

 _I'd sooner buy defying gravity_

Valka smiled. "Every dragon has its secrets. And I'll show them all to you. We'll unlock every mystery, find every last species, together, as mother and daughter."

 _Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity_

She continued her speech. "This gift we share, Hanna... it bonds us. This is who you are, my girl. Who we are. We will change the world for all dragons! We will make it a better, safer place!"

 _I think I'll try defying gravity_

Hanna slowly smiled. "That sounds…amazing."

 _And you won't bring me down!_

Overjoyed, Valka hugged her.

 _Bring me down!_

Hanna hugged her back, hands tightly the back of her suit. Her big, green eyes watered with happiness. "I can get used to this."


	2. Let It Go

**Disclaimer:** I do not own 'How To Train Your Dragon' or the awesome song, 'Let It Go'.

* * *

 _6 years later…_

"Yee-haw!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Look out!"

"Haha!"

Four washes of bright colors flashed across the huge ice cavern harvesting the Dragon Sanctuary inside.

 _This…is Dragon Mountain. Home of the Dragon Sanctuary. The best kept secret for miles around._

Four dragons flew at lightning speed around

 _Granted, it may not look like much, but this cold heap of ice packs more than a few surprises._

Hanna watched from inside an icy cave, leaning on her side against a wall of ice, arms crossed and folded under her chest. Her grin took up her entire face.

She looked around her, staring at the snow and the footprints she left behind until the wind covered them up.

 _The snow glows white on the mountain tonight_

 _Not a footprint to be seen_

 _A kingdom of isolation,_

 _and it looks like I'm the Queen_

She lifted herself off the wall and started walking off. Toothless, hanging upside down from the ceiling like a bat, woke up from his nap, blinking green eyes open and saw Hanna. His rider twisted her head around to smile at him, beckoning him to follow her. The Night Fury dropped down and scampered after her.

 _The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside_

 _Couldn't keep it in_

 _Gods knows I've tried_

She rubbed her arms, remembering her old life in Berk. Although she was the daughter of the chief of Berk, Hanna was born a 'hiccup' and suffered a hard life because of it, even called Hiccup instead of her real name. That was why she left after hearing her father called her Hiccup, not Hanna.

 _Don't let them in,_

 _Don't let them see_

 _Be the good girl you always have to be_

She remembered the taunts, the bullying, the isolating, the coldness, but all of that torture only made her determined to fit in, to join in the dragon slaying.

But all that changed when she shot down a Night Fury. The beginning of a beautiful friendship opened Hanna's eyes to the wonderful world of dragons. It inspired her. It changed her.

 _Conceal, don't feel,_

 _Don't let them know_

 _Well now they know_

She remembered the moment she tamed the Monstrous Nightmare instead of killing it, and the village finally turning on her, and her father disowning her.

She ran in shame after that, but she found another wild dragon and flew to stop the Red Death, saving Toothless and her entire village.

In payment, her father called her Hiccup.

 _Let it go, let it go_

 _Can't hold it back anymore_

Back in the present, Hanna happily waddled about in the ice caves, acting silly at her reflection.

 _Let it go, let it go_

 _Turn away and slam the door_

She ran her hand against the ice walls.

 _I don't care_

 _What they're going to say_

 _Let the storm rage on…_

A cold wind brushed her skin but she wasn't bothered by it one bit.

 _The cold never bothered me anyway_

She walked up a small hill, walking fast.

 _It's funny how some distance_

 _Makes everything seem small_

She turned around, staring at the far distance she left behind.

 _And the fears that once controlled me_

 _Can't get to me at all_

Grinning, she turned back round and stopped at the top.

 _It's time to see what I can do_

 _To test the limits and break through_

Toothless blinked in front of her while shaking himself for her attention.

 _No right, no wrong, no rules for me,_

 _I'm free!_

She mounted Toothless and the black dragon shot off, using himself as a sled down the icy ramps.

 _Let it go, let it go_

 _I am one with the wind and sky_

The pair weaved in between tight corners and made a loop-de-loop in the air.

 _Let it go, let it go_

 _You'll never see me cry_

While in mid-air, Hanna hooked her prosthetic leg in the saddle and released the fin she built to replace the one she cost Toothless, which allowed her dragon to take off flying like a rocket.

 _Here I stand_

 _And here I'll stay_

 _Let the storm rage on_

"Toothless, Plasma Blast!"

Toothless obeyed without hesitation, blasting three times and creating waves of purple sparkles, falling on them as they flew through.

Hanna smiled happily as she felt like a little girl marveling the snow.

 _My power flurries through the air into the ground_

 _My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around_

 _And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast_

She looked behind, like she was looking back at her past until she flinched and quickly turned away.

 _I'm never going back, the past is in the past_

No way was she ever going to give up this life of freedom, joy and adventure for anything!

 _Let it go, let it go_

 _And I'll rise like the break of dawn_

She unhooked herself from the saddle and stood on Toothless's head expertly while hovering in mid-air, not afraid of dangerously possibly falling into the freezing water. She stepped into the sunlight.

 _Let it go, let it go_

 _That perfect girl is gone_

She was no longer the awkward 14 year-old teenaged girl anymore. She was now a 20 year-old woman.

She had grown into quite a beauty. Her body changed from short and scrawny to tall and slim with wide hips and an ample chest. Her forest-green eyes were large and bright with a fire within, teal eyeshadow and long eyelashes. Her soft skin was fair with a blush on her face, freckles, a round nose, and blood red lips. Her soft auburn hair was stylized with a short spiky pixie cut to the neck and spikes out with sleek layers along with a waist-long, thick braid at the back wrapped with a long red ribbon. Her matured body was adorned in a green dress that was falling short to her thighs with a red stripe across the hem, loose sleeves falling to the elbows, and was completely off the shoulders with a black slightly ruffled collar. A black bodice with yellow pinstripes donned itself on her abdomen. Tight black leggings on her long legs with black leather straps around them and had a brown leather knee-high boot on her right leg. Her prosthetic leg was upgraded, designed so mechanically, its like 'a Swiss army knife for prosthesis'. There were also copper medallion earrings in her ears, black gloves on her hands and warrior facepaint on her face, consisting of two red stripes on her cheeks and a black, wide, long V on her forehead. Like her mother, she wore a suit designed after her dragon. Based on her Night Fury, her suit consisted of black leather around her upper body and legs in thick straps, with a long cape and shoulder pads with red symbols of a Night Fury.

 _Here I stand_

 _In the light of day_

 _Let the storm rage on!_

Hanna held her arms wide out, proud of herself today, feeling powerful.

Years ago, she was a nobody in a stubborn society.

Now's she's a powerful warrior in her own way.

She shrugged, _"The cold never bothered me anyway!"_

"Hey, Hanna!" She looked down, listening her friends on their dragons and calling her name. "Come on!"

With a nod, she sat back down on Toothless and hooked her prosthesis leg into the pedal, then flying down and joined in the fun.

"DRAGON RACE!" Hanna and her friends yelled altogether. They blasted off in a blinding speed, trying to best each other out in speed and tricks.

 _I'm not the only Dragon Rider in the world. There's Vipermei, my second-in-command, and the biggest rebel you'll ever meet. This girl is no stranger to danger. She ran away from her highly elite family to avoid a dreaded arranged marriage on a merchant boat and sailed out to the sea and hopped on the first dragon she came into contact with. According to her, the arctic is warmer than her family. With our stories so alike, I got my first human friend. That girl is a real firecracker._

Hanna's human best friend crackled madly as she released some fireworks around her. She was gripping the neck joints of her dragon, a Boneknapper named Zhou, which was the first dragon she ever met.

Vipermei was a striking Chinese girl with pale skin, narrow dark-brown eyes appearing black, and chopped black hair in an uneven bob. Her style was lethal with a slender and lean body. She was dressed in a red Chinese dress with short sleeves and a golden design of design up her right side with a slit on her left. A golden-yellow sash clung to her waist. Black leggings and black flat shoes donned her long legs, separated by furry white legwarmers. On her arms were long violet cloth braces from her elbows to her wrists with a bit of fabric going around her middle fingers. White furry armbands covered the skin that would be exposed between the sleeves and the cloth braces. A necklace of dragon bones hung down from around her neck. Her face was painted with white cheeks and black panda markings around her eyes.

… _Hildr the Sane, Dagur the Deranged's sister…You could see the resemblance between them_ _ **(!)**_ _No, really. Hildr is nothing like her older brother. She's perfectly sane, calm and gentle but a little timid and_ _ **totally**_ _scared of him so she ran away after their father 'retired'. Though she was just as scared of dragons at first, when she found a Skrill frozen in a block of ice, she was the only one 'berserk' enough to tame it. It was touching and frightening at the same time. She's not afraid to wear metal for the fun of it…as long she's wearing her specially made chain cloak (my invention) to keep her insides from becoming fried outsides._

Hildr was grinning while gripping onto the saddle on the back of the Berserkers Tribe's symbol, a Skrill she named Boltstriker. She laughed in joy as Boltstriker sparked lightning over the both of them and, with her cloak, created their own personal thunderstorm.

The Berserker girl was a pretty girl with a sweet smile, soft brown eyes, and long and curly fawn-brown hair with braids going around her head. She possessed a slim figure wearing a yellow dress reaching just above her knees, paired with a brown shrug, white leggings and brown boots. A nicely made metal bodice adorned her torso with round chest plates, a fitted waist and a flared piece over her hips. She wore cloak of metal chains over her body, which flew behind her in the air. Her pretty face was painted with yellow and purple jagged zigzags on her checks, two purple ones on her forehead and a yellow one on her chin. She also donned a necklace of colorful jewel pendants and bracelets made out of wire on her wrists. An ornate metal shield was her back, kept for emergencies.

… _Heather, daughter of Eret…She lost her parents to pirates and I had to save her from walking the plank. While her brother traps dragons, she rides them. Never thought I would say this but she's somewhat a female Snotlout to me. She's totally independent and questions everything and a crafty, good actress…but she is brave, sweet and compassionate. Due to her parents' death at the hands of pirates, she's hostile towards another rider, although there's something else between them, if you know what I mean._

Heather let herself be flung up, performed a somersault and dive, and caught by the ankles, thanks to the vines of her loyal Changewing, named Loptr (Loki's other name). As Loptr raised her up, she praised herself and Loptr's trick with a smirk.

Heather was attractive and she knew it. Her body was slender yet with sensuous curves and sizable breasts to boot. Her beauty was sensuous and mysterious with glowing tanned skin, coral lips, green eyes with long mascara-wearing eyelashes, and long thick black hair in a low ponytail, with a long bang with a curly end and swooped down side of her face. Her face was done with facepaint of white dots under her eyes and orange slashes on her high cheekbones like blush. She was alluringly wearing a tight white long-sleeved dress falling to cover her hips with a plunging neckline revealing a pale-orange top underneath, along with a matching orange belt around her small waist. Leather tannish-yellow pants clung tight to her tall legs, matched the dark-brown boots. A long yellow silk scarf was thrown around her neck, also with a collar necklace and medallion earrings both made of pure gold. She also wore a coat of red Changewing scales from Loptr shedding so she would be able to blend in with him.

… _and Brant Seadollar, the pirate…that's why Heather hates him so much. But he's really a nice guy. His sanity is stable from being the only guy. He grew up on ships since he was a baby and lost his pirate-family to another. That's why I found him shipwrecked and bonding with a Scauldron. He's an expert in trading and provides clothes and jewelry for his ladies, lucky us! The only boy in the Riders, he's perfectly comfortable among us girls, especially with Heather because he has a crush on her and spoils her with expensive goods, however she treats him with hostility._

Brant flew close to the water on Sea-King (the Viking name for a powerful pirate chieftain), his Scauldron he befriended from his shipwrecked period. He climbed up Sea-King's neck and stood on top of his head, smiling with the wind in his face and the smell of the salty sea in his nose.

Brant was a handsome man, all tall and strong. He possessed a head of black spiky hair, decorated with a big brown pirate hat on top and a red silk bandana wrapped around his head that was knotted at the side. His clothes were made to keep him warm and waterproof. He wore a white woolen long-sleeved shirt, blue pants made out of thick and warm fabric with yellow-trimmed legs, long black leather boots, and a long black coat blowing the air behind him. A shiny silk yellow sash was wrapped around his waist, holding his weapons, which were a cutlass sword and a whip. His chiseled face was made up with facepaints of blue wavy lines on his cheeks and forehead, and green ones running up the sides of his cheekbones and on his chin. In his ear adorned a single long earring of purple beads and swinging from his neck was a long necklace of charms he collected as a cabin boy.

 _Life here…is amazing. I never felt as good here as I was back in Berk. Here…I was appreciated. I'm doing what I love and I'm respected for it. I got the greatest friends one can ever wish for and I have a parent who loves and not afraid to show it._ _Sure there were tears and screams after I found out my 'deceased' mother was still kicking, but Mom and I worked things out._

"Hey, ladies! Check this out!" Brant announced. He jumped off Sea-King's head and showed off a combination of a somersault and jumping jack and came back down on his dragon's head. In the process of showing off, his hat flew off and got caught by Vipermei.

"Oh, Brant! Isn't this _yours_?" Vipermei teased, mirth dancing in her eyes as Brant's hat was dangling in her hand.

"Give that back, you slithering milk maid!"

"Is that the best you can come up with?"

Heather rolled her eyes at the squabbling while it made Hanna laugh.

"See ya! I'm off!" Hanna bided, zooming off towards the horizon.

"PLEASE DON'T GO TOO FAR OR TOO LONG!" Hildr hollered after her.

If only she listened.

* * *

"WHOOOO-HOOOOO!"

Her long braid that was wrapped up in red was whipping behind her like her own personal dragon tail while she flew in the air by herself, thanks to her squirrel suit. Her Night Fury suit doubles as a squirrel jacket capable of gliding. It had bat-wings out and her head donned a spiked black mask.

"This is _amazing!_ "

But then a loud roar echoed, almost throwing her off. She slowed down, getting onto Toothless. Looking down, she saw a familiar ship beside another ship in the middle of the ocean.

"Hm…wonder what Eret, _Son of Eret_ is up to this time. Let's go."

Toothless swooped down. As they got closer, Hanna saw a family of captured Thunderdrums, a grown male and three babies. Hanna scowled.

"Ok, bud. Let me off." She said. Toothless nodded and brought her to the sails. She glided down with her bat-wings and landed on deck. She took out her fire blade called Inferno before shouting. "Hey, Eret!"

Eret turned and saw her, dagger in hand. His face got angry. "You! How _lovely_ for you to drop in! How's my little sister?"

"Very good, a great friend, despite the fact that her big brother is a good-for-nothing dragon trapper!"

In a flash, she ran over and slashed the net holding the Thunderdrums, freeing them.

"Why you!" Eret growled furiously. "Get her, lads!"

Hanna found herself surrounded but she was confident. Toothless was right beside her, growling. "Uh, lads? Not a good idea. Girl with flaming sword, girl's angry dragon, wooden boat, big ocean. How's your swimming?"

"Not good." One member of Eret's crew admitted sheepishly.

Hanna smirked arrogantly until she dropped it when she noticed the last person she wanted to see ever.

Her father.

"Now, listen here, you." He huffed. He sounded a little hoarse and grey streaks were throughout his beard. Old age was getting to him. It made Hanna felt like more than 6 years had passed since she last saw him. "That Thunderdrum was destroying all of Berk's boat, making it impossible to fish for food."

Hanna quickly regained her senses and feisty wit. "Well that Thunderdrum doesn't care about Berk because its inhabitants are heartless, cruel and self-centered!"

That offended Stoick. An offended Viking is an angry Viking.

Stoick charged forward, arms swinging. She was having a difficult time fighting against her father. He swiftly had her pinned against a wall and took off her helmet.

His face paled, finding him staring into glinting green eyes. "…Hiccup?"

"Hi dad." His long-lost daughter replied dully. Anger bubbled up inside of her. Even after 6 years, he still referred her as 'Hiccup.'

" _She's_ a hiccup to you? She's a babe to me!" Eret exclaimed. "Even if she is annoying! If she's what you consider a _hiccup,_ I love to see what you call a real beauty."

The _hiccup_ tried to escape by kicking in her father's stomach to get him off her but he grabbed her before she made it away from him. Toothless roared and pounced for his rider, but he got tied down. Eret jumped and wrestled with the Night Fury, trying to restrain him.

"Toothless!" Hanna screamed as Stoick held her back.

Stoick only gripped her tighter. "Eret, you take the dragon. I'm taking my daughter home."

Eret could not stop himself from grinning gleefully. "Gladly! Pleasure doing business with you."

"NO!" Hanna screamed and trashed about as Stoick carried her onto his ship.

"Head home to Berk!"

"TOOTHLESS!"

Toothless' desperate roars became distant as she was rowed away from her dragon and forcibly taken back to Berk.


	3. Welcome Home

**Disclaimer:** I do not own 'How To Train Your Dragon'.

* * *

The ride home was quiet aside from the screaming earlier. Hanna stopped screaming. She kept her mouth shut and could only glare at her father for practically kidnapping her.

Stoick sighed. "When we get back to Berk, I'm making sure you change."

"I already changed." She hissed.

" _Hanna…_ I turned a blind eye to your training and look what happened. I prayed for the Gods for a second chance. I will not waste it. You are a Viking…its in your blood."

"I was never meant to be a Viking, so save your breath from making me one."

Stoick frowned. But he decided not to retort and turned his back on her, resuming his chiefing. Hanna only huffed, having nothing to do while stuck on the ship with her estranged father.

Pretty soon, she could see Berk on the horizon. Getting closer, she noticed it changed. The buildings increased in numbers and sizes ( **A/N:** Image Berk in the second movie without the dragons.)

Once the ship docked, Stoick grabbed her arm, dragging her forcibly off and through the village, not caring about the piercing, shocked stares from the villagers. Three men broke from the crowd, running forward with arms wide open.

"Hanna!" Gobber bellowed in joy, scooping her in a hug. Stoick still held onto her arm. The blacksmith was older and covered in more soot than she last remembered.

"Look at yah!" Mulch praised as he admired her beauty.

"You got so tall!" Bucket gushed, happy to see her. "And beautiful!"

The woman blushed. These three men were the only ones who treated her with any respect or kindness in her life. "Thanks, you guys- uh!" Stoick tugged her hard, pulling her towards the kill ring.

"Ah, the old arena." She said dully. "This brings back memories."

Yeah, memories of embarrassing incidents in dragon training and banishment.

"Hanna, I know what you're thinking. I'm making sure you'll become one of us once and for all."

That freaked her out, causing her to struggle but to no avail. Not even digging her heels slowed Stoick down until he abruptly stopped at the entrance.

"Snotlout!"

His roar echoed in the arena. The young people in it stopped from they were doing to pay attention to the chief.

Snotlout looked up, uttering, "Huh?"

"I want you and your friends to teach your cousin, my daughter, the ways of the Viking and make sure she submits."

"Wait, Hiccup's alive?"

"Here she is!" Stoick roughly threw his daughter into the ring. "Now train her!"

"Uh, Stoick, I don't think this is a good idea." Gobber warned, getting himself ignored as Stoick stalked right pass him, making him sigh.

Hanna stumbled and twirled from her father's harsh throw. Thankfully she regained her balance quickly. Once she straightened up, glared at his retreating back.

"…Hiccup?"

She turned around, with the sun shining behind her, giving the young Warriors of Berk a perfect side-view of her developed body, showing that she's all grown up. All eyes were on her. Her outfit was uniquely made yet it was appealing, especially on her wonderful body. Her hair, falling down her back in its rope braid, was shining like bronze, her chest was big, and her hips were perfectly shaped for bearing children. For the older generation, she resembled her mother. For her generation, she was _gorgeous._

Her cousin Snotlout had his jaw hanging low. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut froze from banging shields on each other. Fishlegs, bigger than before, dropped his book. Young Gustav Larson, previously struggling to lift a heavy hammer, had his mouth open like Snotlout and was blushing sheepishly. Leaning against a wall, a blonde man stopped sharpening his battle-axe. His expression was the most shocked.

"What happened to her?" Ruffnut asked.

"Who cares?" Tuffnut rebuked, drooling.

Hanna snorted, putting her hands on her childbearing hips. "You don't honestly think I'll stay a gangly adolescent forever, right?"

"Cuz!" Snotlout exclaimed, suddenly snapping himself out of his daze.

She gave him a blank frown. "Hey Snotlout. Still haven't kill a dragon yet?"

Snotlout faked a laugh. Then he picked up an axe. "Ok, grab an axe!"

"Why? Are we gonna hurt her?" Ruffnut asked again, sounding like she was jealous of Hanna, which is actually true.

"I wanna go first!" Tuffnut shouted. He took off running to tackle Hanna, hands out, ready to touch her luscious curves. He never made it halfway when a fist collided in his face, knocking him backwards.

"Ow…" Tuffnut moaned.

Hanna, however, didn't care about his pain. She was more focused on the guy who punched him.

Alaric Hofferson. Berk's star Viking. Her childhood crush.

And his matured appearance made her as stunned as everyone was with her. He was huge like her father yet not as wide and stocky. His muscular physique had slight curves that stood him out from any other male, making him incredibly handsome. He wore a red shirt made out of material, which looked like bandages, clinging tight on his board form, navy pants on his brawny legs, tucked into big brown boots with white furred tops, and a brown wide belt around his wide hips with skulls emblazoned all around. On his board shoulders were metal shoulder pads held together by a black band with a big silver ring, with a thick grey wolf-furred hood attached. Also on his beefy arms, ripe with pulsing muscles the size of small boulders, he had on thick brown armbands with fur trimmed, and he gripped his trusty axe in one hand. His sunny blonde hair was neatly made in a long braid over his left shoulder with small braids layered over his red headband and his bang fell over the left side of his face in a choppy cut. He eyed her with intense blue eyes, making her blush.

"We're not gonna hurt her. We're gonna train her." Snotlout retorted to the twins a little too late.

"Why?" Tuffnut stood up, rubbing his red nose.

"Because Uncle Stoick told me to! We have to mold her into one of us!"

"Snotlout, the probability of me being like the rest of you is as likely as a Smothering Smokebreath stopped collecting metal."

Fishlegs snickered, understanding the joke. But one glare from everyone around him made him stop, which resulted in Hanna sighing. Her joking and his laughing reaction then shutting up was a theme in her past here in Berk. When she was an outcast. And probably still was.

She glanced at Gustav, as she wasn't familiar with him in the painful past. The little boy was no longer little, now stood taller at 14 years old.

Seeing her study, he nervously waved. "Hi."

She nodded at him. "Starting dragon training, Gustav?"

"We'll need dragons for that." Alaric snapped, his face dull and stony of any emotion aside from Viking classic stoic.

"Yeah, the dragons we used 6 years ago broke out and left." Fishlegs explained. "To be perfectly honest, dragons rarely show themselves on Berk."

"Those stupid leatherheads probably heard of me." Snotlout gloated.

"Yeah…they heard of the ridiculously dimwitted fraidy-cat named Snotlout!" Hanna replied sarcastically.

"Hey! Shut up!"

He angrily waved his axe at her with a face to match but all he got was a blank look.

"I'm not scared of a dumb Viking with an axe…" Then her large eyes widened more and she snatched the axe out of his hands, inspecting it. "Which needs severe fixing!" She stunned everyone again by the way she held the battle-axe effortlessly when 6 years ago she could barely lift a shield! "When was the last time you got this sharpened?"

"Uh…I don't know." Then he smirked maliciously. "Too bad the dragons aren't here. I would love to see you mess up again!"

"If I am in the same room as a dragon, I would be on its back, flying the Hel away from here and you."

"Hang on, you _ride_ dragons?" Ruffnut inquired and Hanna nodded. She and her twin brother grinned. "Cool…"

"Give me a dragon and I'll show you."

"Ha!" Snotlout scoffed loudly. "She's just bluffing. You all remember how bad she was in dragon training!"

Hanna snorted. "Oh please! You were all just as terrible at dragon training!"

"You were cheating!" He retorted, pointing at her.

"I learnt from a _dragon_ , not from a dragon-killing Viking. I'm not _scared_ of dragons like you are."

"I'm a Vikings! I'm not scared of dumb dragons."

Hanna crossed her arms, smirking. "Uh huh…dragon!" She pointed at over his head, voice loud and alarmed.

"Ah! Where?"

The reaction was so hilarious, she burst out laughing. Snotlout had let out a girly yelp while twirling around, his face fearful. The twins grabbed the same shield and started fighting each other over ownership. Fishlegs screamed and ran off. Gustav lifted his hammer but got toppled over under the heavy weight. Alaric didn't move a ripping muscle, thus saved himself from embarrassment.

As her laughs calmed down, she straightened up, smirking, hands on hips. "I faced smaller dragons tougher than you."

But her 'old friends' managed to muster up some stubbornness to protest.

"Its not like there was an _actual_ dragon there." Snotlout sneered. The twins crackled at his lame remark, Fishlegs laughed weakly, Gustav made a hiccup of a chuckle and Alaric sighed, rolling his eyes.

Their insufferable pride was making Hanna more irritated by the second. With a groan (which was more like a growl), she turned for the entrance, intending on leaving and finding the nearest dragon to head home.

"Hold it!" However, life had other ideas. Snotlout zoomed in, blocking her way out with his big body. "Uncle Stoick wants me to make you into a Viking."

"Snotlout, I am not a Viking! Get that through your thick, brainless head." She poked his forehead, a sound of a hollow echo encountering.

His snotty sneer was dawned on her. "Is that the best you could, Hiccup?"

Her fists clutched, her face turned red, her lips pressed together. Each passing minute reminded her how much she _hated_ Berk. Her childhood and early teen years were of loneliness, bullying, pranking and name calling, and even worse, she was called HICCUP at every turn!

 _ **POW!**_

In red anger, she punched Snotlout right in the face, knocking him over.

"Awesome…" Tuffnut said.

"Wow!" Gustav exclaimed.

Hanna made a 'hmph' of triumph, flicking her hair as she stepped over him, strutting outside the ring of death.

"Hey!" She heard Tuffnut shouted behind her before he and his sister appeared in front of her.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" Ruffnut demanded.

"Anywhere but here."

The twins leaped to grab her but she grabbed their shoulders first and amazingly lifted herself up, somersaulting over. Once she landed catlike, she took off running.

"After her!"

* * *

"Give it up, Hiccup!" Snotlout yelled after Hanna, although he was dead behind her!

The Warriors of Berk chased her through the village. She had to make to the edge of town for the forest in hopes of escape. All those times running with Speed Stingers really helped her.

"Is this part of training?" Gustav asked while running.

"Wow, she's fast!" Fishlegs gasped from the very back of the crew.

"We can't keep up with her!" Ruffnut complained.

"Spread out! Take her out at different angles!" Alaric ordered.

They split up, taking different routes.

Fishlegs tripped when trying to take her from the side. Snotlout barged through obstacles to catch her but he only met face with a wall. Gustav climbed over carts and avoided people more agilely but he was too slow. Ruffnut and Tuffnut jumped from a roof, but their heads got flattened at contact with the ground instead.

Hanna stopped for a moment just to check for any more pursuers.

 _Where's Ala-_ "AH!"

Something big and strong, probably a yak, tackled her at the side, catching her completely off guard, rolling around in the dirt, and then ended up on top of her, grasping her arms, pinning her down.

It was no yak. It was Alaric.

His intense eyes stared down on her, trapping her with his heavy weight. He looked invincible…until he winced, making a funny face. She pushed him off him, her left leg up.

"Wasn't expecting the old metal leg, weren't you?" She noted as he moaned, hands lowering to his crotch area.

"Hey you two!" Gobber yelled, calling up with Stoick and the young warriors. "Save it for the wedding!"

Hanna stood up, dusting her clothes, and stood her foster-father a glare. "Not funny, Gobber."

Gobber wasn't offended. He was grinning. "Ah, tougher than you look. Those last 6 years really did a number on ya."

Alaric lifted himself up, his bang hanging over his face, looking like he was glaring at Hanna. She snarled at him, as all threatened dragons would.

"Look at her! She spend so much time around dragons, she thinks she's one!" Snotlout said.

"Not any longer." Stoick came forth. "From this day now, my daughter will be among us once again." He took Hanna's hands and joined them with Alaric's. "Starting with marrying Alaric."

"Wait, what?" Hanna couldn't _believe_ what she was hearing!

"Why aren't _I_ next in line for chief?" Snotlout protested.

"We've been over this before, because you're irresponsible and the first and _last_ time I left you in charge of the village, you nearly burnt it to the ground with the twins."

"Hey! We only wanted to see the armory." Tuffnut protested.

"Yeah." Ruffnut added.

"Never mind that!" He turned to his daughter. "I made a contract with the Hoffersons when you were young on the conditions Alaric would succeed me as chief once he marries you. Even at a young age, he has shown great potential. Alaric has been preparing for this day for his entire life."

Hanna snapped her head up to Alaric, staring at his stoic face. Hurt by his coldness, tears were bringing to leak. But her face was creasing with anger. She angrily tore her hands away and directed a fierce glare at Alaric.

"You knew?" She growled. "You knew you were gonna marry me and you treated me like an outcast just like everybody else! I'm been dreading for the day for my dad to sell me but to hear that you're chosen for chief over Snotlout and me?All because I'm a hiccup? I didn't ask to be born this way, but did anyone listen? NO!"

"Its for the good of the village." Alaric stated dully.

She arched an eyebrow, thinking of a comment to twist his mind around. "So unless I marry you, you won't defend your own village?"

"Yes." Suddenly his eyes widened and he burst protests out. "No! I mean-"

"Save it lad, she's marrying you anyway." Stoick inputted.

"No I'm not!" Hanna screamed. "I would say I'll rather marry a troll than him, but that will be an insult to the poor creature!"

Gobber laughed heartedly at her feisty line. "That's Hanna alright!"

Ignoring the old blacksmith, she continued to scream her fury out to Stoick. "I'm not something you can sell to the highest bidder!" And then she turned to Alaric "Alaric, do you anything to say about this?"

All eyes on him, Alaric said nothing. But his fists were shaking as he tried to control himself.

Hanna was disgusted by his aloofness. "I can't believe I liked you when I was a kid!"

At that, his façade finally broke. "You _like_ me?" His voice came off as squeaky as a nervous pre-teen going through puberty.

" _Liked._ Past tense. I got over it, like, 6 years ago." She sassily scoffed, not knowing she was hurting him emotionally. "You're just like everyone else. A narrow-minded, ruthless, cold-hearted Viking! And that is _soo not_ my type."

"That's enough, Hiccup!" Stoick roared as he grabbed her, proceeding to drag her away for a good talk, leaving a beaten Alaric behind.

* * *

"Even after 6 years, you still drive me crazy!"

Stoick threw his daughter roughly upon reaching home, or in Hanna's words, _the house she used to share with him._

As she did earlier, she stumbled, twirled and regained her balance and glared at Stoick. "Man, even after 6 years, you still don't listen to me."

Yet Stoick didn't listen to her at that moment. He kept on roaring. "I am your father and chief! You will listen to me!"

She crossed her arms and quirked a brow. "Uh, remember dad? You _banished_ me for calming a dragon down instead of killing it!"

"You went against tradition! I have every right as chief to teach you the consequences!"

"I have every right as the first person to break those stupid traditions! Like, getting horrible treatment for being born not as brawny as you! For years, I suffered here for being me!"

"Hic-"

She cut him off. "You were never there for me!" Her screaming calmed down as her voice cracked. "You were there for everyone else but not me." Her eyes filled up with tears. "Do you really hate me that much?"

Stoick was stunned into silence. Never did he hate her. Sure, she could be impossible to deal with but he doesn't hate her. Her 'hiccup' status made him overprotective. He was torn between his roles as the chief and a single parent.

"I don't know why the gods created me as a hiccup but I've found my true purpose for living in this cruel world…with the ones who understand me. The dragons."

Finally he found his voice. "Dear, please understand…your way isn't right. It can't be followed."

"Yes it can!" She screamed suddenly, causing him to stumble back due to the loud volume of her voice. "Your strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. So dragons and brains are my strong suits. I tried to be like you. I tried so hard but you kept pushing me aside. You don't even call me by my real name. You call me Hiccup! I lost my leg defending this stupid village against a dragon and you still called me Hiccup!" She kicked her metal leg up. "Everyone on this island weren't much help. They bullied and ignored me. My existence is a curse. Even Gobber told me to stop all of…this!" She gestured to herself, pointing out her small stature to her huge father. "I'm not that little girl anymore…I'm not going back to her. Ever. You know, with dragons, I could've easily destroyed this entire island just to make all of you pay…but even I know that's not right. So I told the dragons to tell away from Berk and I kept my distance. Its better that way…until you called me 'hiccup', decided to kidnap me and force me to marry your adoptive son!"

With that out, she turned away, running upstairs to her old bedroom and slamming the door shut behind her. She fell to her knees, sitting against the door, arms crossed over her legs and burying her crying face.

Listening to her cries made Stoick guilty by each second.

He thought to himself, _What have I done?_

* * *

Eret was grinning with delight as he marveled at the incredibly rare Night Fury he had locked up. The black dragon was struggling to get free but to no avail. He could image the _loooooong_ queue of eager buyers.

"Alright, lads! Set sails for-"

"DRAGON RIDERS!"

Eret groaned. "Not her lot!"

In less of a minute, four dragons surrounded Eret's ship and his crew, each dragon in different side.

One of the Dragon Riders got off their dragon.

"Hey, big brother." Heather greeted coolly.

"Little sister." Eret greeted back dully. Their relationship was strained due to the fact that Eret tried to sell Loptr when Heather introduced the ways of dragons to him.

"Has Hanna come by?"

"No."

"Then why is Toothless here?"

Toothless roared at Eret's back. Hildr jumped off of Boltstriker, throwing her oriental shield ornate like a Frisbee at Eret's men, knocking them out. Toothless shook impatiently.

"Hold on, big guy." Hildr reassured softly before she took out her _seax_ (Viking dagger) from her boot and started working on the lock.

"Eret, where is she?" Heather demanded.

Her brother pressed his lips firmly, refusing to speak, even to his little sister.

Heather groaned, getting frustrated. "Eret-"

"Let me handle this." Vipermei butted in, a devilish smile on her face.

"Uh oh." Heather uttered.

"This is gonna be good." Brant grinned.

Seeing the Chinese girl's Cheshire grin, Eret backed away, scared of what she was planning to do with him. The girl was unstable, crazy with self-control. That made her worse than the twins on Berk. She whistled and right away, Zhou got hold of Eret's shirt and yanked him up, tossing him and throwing him about in the air.

" _ **AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

Vipermei laughed heartily at Eret's terrified screams. Hildr rolled her eyes at her crazy antics. Brant chuckled. Heather silently prayed the crazy Chinese girl wouldn't kill him.

After a few minutes, the Boneknapper brought Eret down with the human man hanging from his teeth. Heather's brother looked like he went through a tornado.

"Now. Where. Is. Hanna?" Vipermei hissed just before Zhou threw him up and caught him again.

"BERK! HER DAD TOOK HER TO BERK!" He blurted out.

Vipermei, with smirking delight, snapped her fingers and Zhou dropped him, ungracefully flat on his face.

"She's in _Berk?_ " Hildr exclaimed, still trying to free Toothless.

"Oh crud." Heather uttered.

"Hanna would _love_ that!" Brant remarked.

"We gotta get her out of there." Vipermei demanded, firmly. "Remember when my family tracked me down just to trade me to that lord?"

"Yeah, the Gronckles mistook him as one of their own." Heather giggled, remembering.

"Yeah, they didn't care about me. I was their only daughter, not even my brother cared about me. Hanna stood up to them, saying they don't deserve me. And then she got the dragons attack them into leaving. Well, this time, I'm returning the favor. We're gonna scare the living daylights out those Vikings if they even try to stop us."

"But we have to rescue her in the morning. Our dragons are worn out." Hildr said, patting Boltstriker. Her Skrill was breathing heavily, emphasizing her point.

Once Toothless got free, he jumped out, moving giddily, wanting to go and rescue Hanna.

Heather approached the Night Fury. "Toothless, you can't fly. If you go in alone, you'll be a sitting duck."

Toothless pouted. He rode on Zhou during the ride for rest, still pouting.

"Don't worry buddy," Vipermei scratched his head. "We'll get her at first light. Night's coming."


	4. How to (Not) Woo Hanna

**Disclaimer:** I do not own 'How To Train Your Dragon' or the song 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' which I did a parody of.

* * *

Hanna was still crying as night was falling. She felt helpless to do anything. When she's with the Dragon Riders, she felt confident, powerful, strong. She was invincible.

But not here. Berk drained all the life and strength out of her, making her like she was the poor, weak, shy girl again.

She glanced to her window. The black night instantly reminded her of Toothless. She remembered their 'first meeting' at the raid, where he used to zoom through the sky until she shot him down.

She wished he were here.

"Toothless…"

She started crying again until she heard something.

"What the?"

She stood up, walked to the window and leaned out. "Guys?"

Alaric, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Gustav were on the lawn, staring up at her.

"Hey, Hic- um, Hanna!" Fishlegs waved.

"What you doing here?" She asked unfriendly.

"Oh Gods help me…" Alaric moaned. Then he did something Hanna never predicted he would do. Ever.

Singing 'I'm Gonna Slay 500 Dragons'.

"Oh no, not that stupid song…" Hanna moaned, palming her face.

 _When I'm slaying, well, I know I'm gonna be_

 _I'm gonna be the man slaying dragons next to you_

 _If I'm dying, well, I know I'm gonna be_

 _I'm gonna be the man who dies next to you_

Alaric was singing dully with no sense of emotion.

 _And if I harvest, hey, I know I'm gonna be_

 _I'm gonna be the man who's harvesting to you_

 _When I come home, oh, I know I'm gonna be_

 _I'm gonna be the hungry man who comes back home to you_

Now the others joined in for the chorus, singing more enthusiastically.

 _And I would slay five hundred dragons_

 _And I would kill five hundred more_

 _Just to be the man who slayed a thousand dragons_

 _To drop down at your door!_

 _Da lat da!_

 _Da lat da!_

 _Da lat da!_

 _Da lat da!_

 _Da-da-da dun-diddle un-diddle un-diddle uh da-da_

"Uh guys? I don't think she's falling for it." Gustav reminded, pointing at Hanna's unimpressed face.

"Give it time." Fishlegs reassured.

 _Da lat da!_

 _Da lat da!_

 _Da lat da!_

 _Da lat da!_

 _Da-da-da dun-diddle un-diddle un-_

Hanna threw a pot to Snotlout's head, knocking him down and bringing the others down like dominos, ending the awful song.

"OW!" Snotlout yelped. He held up the pot and looked up to her. "Hiccup!"

"You sound like a chorus of Terrible Terrors. I was doing everyone a favor." She replied. "Alaric," The young man snapped his head up, secretly loving the sound of his name on her lips. "Don't do anything you want to. I know you don't like me, so stop. It's a waste of time and effort."

She closed the window shut, blocking them out.

* * *

"How can the classic serenade _not_ work?" Fishlegs moaned while kicking a stone. "It worked with my parents."

"You should've just drag her by the hair to your house, dude." Snotlout told Alaric. The blonde didn't say anything, instead throwing his axe at a tree. He was angrier than ever.

"I don't think that will work either." Gustav noted. He seemed to the only one to see that, apparently, 'the Viking Way' isn't the right way to court Hanna. "She's different from any other girl."

"Yeah, man!" Snotlout barked. He directed his attention on Alaric, still chopping trees. "You could have any girl you want yet you chose the only one who doesn't want you? You're crazy!"

"You gotta admit, Hiccup is _hot_." Tuffnut sighed, drooling again, eyes glinting with lust. His hands fisted. "Man, her cans are bigger than my-"

"Hey! That's my cousin you're talking about!" Snotlout shouted so angrily, he surprised himself. He somehow felt…protective of Hanna upon realizing that she's an attractive woman and red-blooded men, like Tuffnut, were starting to notice.

"I got a idea! It's sure fire!" Ruffnut piped, jumping in excitement of her plan. "Ok, we need Alaric, flowers, a rope, a loincloth-"

" _ **SHUT UP!"**_

 _SLASH!_

A deadly silence fell. Everyone stared wide-eyed at Alaric, his broad back facing them but they knew he was angry. The tree he was torturing was completely cut down to a stump.

"You mutton heads!" He spun around, showing his fury. "Hanna is _nothing_ like us! That's why it always so hard to talk to her!"

"She's stubborn. That's the only thing she has in common with us." Fishlegs noted and then he thought of Hanna and started counting with his fingers. "She's also charming, intelligent, uniquely beautiful, an inventor, rides dragons, and even knows a sophisticated form of fighting."

"Don't forget, she has a metal leg!" Tuffnut inputted.

"How is that revenant?"

"It just adds to her _sexiness._ "

 _POW!_

Alaric threw a single punch at Tuffnut, yet it brought the Thornston into a world of pain and dizziness while lying on his side.

"I hate to say it but she's out of your league." Fishlegs admitted sheepishly.

Alaric glowered, making the much bigger man cower.

"How can you court a hiccup?" Ruffnut wondered out loud.

"Buy her, drag her to your house and bed her?" Tuffnut suggested.

 _POW!_

"Any more suggestions?" Alaric snarled with his arm out, hand fisted and Tuffnut on the ground unconscious once again.

"She's not a hiccup, she's Hanna." Gustav said.

Fishlegs nodded. "Exactly. The question is…how can woo _Hanna_?"

No one knew the answer to that question.

Alaric sighed, swinging his axe up and steadied it on his left shoulder. "I'm getting out of there. See ya."

* * *

"Oh, Alaric. Your axe needs sharpening again?"

The blonde man drew a deep breath out. "Actually no, Gobber, I need some advice."

The blacksmith set his hammer down, smirking. "On how to court Hanna?"

Alaric blushed. He actually blushed. "You knew?"

"The whole village heard you lot wailing. You sounded like cats drowning. Uh lad, you have no passion, that's your problem."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not even pursuing Hanna yourself! You let your friends do your wooing for you. You had Stoick push her into marrying ya. You have to do it yourself, lad." Gobber was telling him quite firmly, as if to make sure his advice would sink into Alaric's brain. "I know you care a lot about her, but you're only gonna get a loveless marriage ending with Hanna killing herself or _you_ if you keep this up. If you want Hanna to love you like you do, you have to stop all…this."

Alaric looked down on himself, not getting what Gobber was saying. "Gobber, you gestured to all of me."

Then Gobber surprised him by shouting. "That's it! Stop being all of you! Stop being the typical Viking, Mr. Popular, whatever! She'll never go for that now that she's even more different than she was before."

"You mean now that she matured and empowered?"

"Righty-o! If you really care about her, you have to let her know. No more of this cold, Viking thing. Be different."

Alaric cast his eyes down, uncertain. He was the perfect Viking, which was all he knew. But to forget it all was a risk.

"…Unless you want some other girl and let your crush be happy with somebody else." Gobber finished slyly.

Suddenly boiling with jealousy at the idea of his love with another man, Alaric growled, narrowed his eyes, gripped his axe and threw it to wall so powerfully, it was literally sticking out at the other side.

Gobber's jaw was hanging. "…Ok…But think about it. When has the classic cold approach ever worked with Hanna?"

Alaric thought hard and long until he realized there was _never_ a time where he made Hanna happy. Whenever he saw her, he would glare or stare blankly at her while she gets flustered. He kinda knew she had something for him but he never acted on it. He didn't know about the Night Fury she befriended until it showed up at the kill ring, protecting her from the Monstrous Nightmare. He remembered glowering when the truth came out and the sudden heartbreak when she got the ultimate punishment- disownment and banishment. He practically died when he heard she disappeared. Everyone said she died fighting the Red Death but he and Stoick didn't believe that. Hanna was too stubborn to die.

* * *

"… _Oh, come on, Gobber! Alaric won't talk to me if he was on fire and I had the only remaining bucket of water on earth."_

 _He was standing at the entrance of the forge, listening in to Hanna deny any attraction she has/had toward him. He knew he had an effect on her due to him as the village's most popular teen._

 _At 14, his body was smaller and thinner but he found his leanness had the advantage of speed and agility. His blonde hair was shoulder-length, his bangs square-shaped over left eye and over band around head. He used to wear a brown headband before changing it to red. He dressed himself in a way that casual, easy to train in and cool. That consisted of a blue-greenish bandage-made shirt hugging his lean muscled form, plain black pants tucked into dark-brown boots with cream furred tops, skull-emblazoned red leather flaps on his on narrow hips, tan-colored armbands wrapped around his arms, and skull-emblazoned metal shoulder pads attached to his shirt with smaller white skulls._

" _Hey." He finally spoke up, causing her to turn to him, whipping her hair around, her face looking more beautiful than it already was. Calmly swinging his battle over and having the handle settled on his shoulder, he stared impassively. On the outside, he was cool and stoic, but inside, he was lovesick. "Can I get this sharpened?"_

" _Um, sure, Ash. I'll, uh, do that…um…" Hanna nervously said, clumsily coming over and taking his axe. Unlike her 20 year-old self, her 14-years teenaged body was weak and so almost fell down with the weight of the axe in her hands._

" _Careful. That's my mother's." He snapped. Looking back, he realized he should've helped her._

" _Sure, no problem" She muttered as she brought it over to a stove._

 _Alaric remembered loving to go to the forge to see Hanna, just to watch her work. She took her beige furred vest with thick fox fur trim off and started pounding the blade with a small hammer. She was so beautiful. Sure, she was skinny, flat-chested, short and awkward, but he didn't care about that. In his eyes, she was perfect._ _Her auburn hair was mid-long at the time, in a braided ponytail. Loose strands constantly fell over her flushed face and eyes, so she often brushes back, looking so sexy as she does. Her fair skin was flushed red and glowing as she worked in hot heat. What he loved most was her captivating emerald-green eyes, shining with intelligence, warmth and mystery._ _She dressed more femininely than the other girls and women and her body was obviously much more feminine as well._ _She had wore a light-green blouse with a slight V-neck and long balloon sleeves at cuffed snugly at her wrists, which was underneath a grass-green strapless dress falling to her knees, tied at her waist and had a ruffle along the neck._ _Her shapely, long legs donned teal leggings ad dark-brown fur-topped boots, along with a brown leather guard with Berk's crest on it on her right knee. Bouncing off her heaving chest was a long necklace of dragon bones. Her brown leather journal, which she used to always carry with her, was set aside on the table._

 _Good thing she was so focused on her work. He used to secretly ogle her body working, her skin glistening in sweat, making her look so irresistible. Lust and love overcame him._ _He could imagine taking her into his arms, touching her, smelling her, taking her…_

 _But the second she finished and begun to turn to face him, he quickly put on a cold glare, somewhat blaming her for his lust._

 _ **Come on, you idiot, say something to her! Just this once!**_

" _Nice necklace." He decided to say._

 _Hanna glanced down and made a disgusted face. "…thanks. Bucket and Mulch gave it to me."_

 _Of course she was revolted. She probably liked dragons by then._

" _You should be thankful that two mighty warriors even like you."_ _The spiteful remark just slipped out without warning._

 _Hanna looked away, trying to hide tears and an upset face._

* * *

The cold approach clearly did not work.

Time for something different.

* * *

 _Knock, knock._

"Go away."

"Hanna, its me."

Hanna lifted her head up from her crossed arms. She got up from her old bed and opened her bedroom door, finding no one. She heard the knocks come again, finding it coming from the window. She went over, opened it and blinked confusedly.

"Alaric? What are you doing?"

The young Viking took a deep and heavy breath of air, one hand behind his back, his body tensing.

 _This time…this time for sure…_

He took his hand from behind, clutching a bouquet of white roses with pink rims.

Hanna gasped as she _never_ expected such an act from him. Those roses were her favorite flowers. "Alaric…"

He coughed as he attempted to muster up some courage. "Look, Hanna…" Unfortunately he stopped. The words halted in his mouth. _Come on, man, say something! What did Stoick do with his wife again?_ "You might as well give in, Stoick gave his blessing. Besides, I worked hard for you for 15 years!"

Uh oh.

"Excuse me? By _working hard_ , do you mean ignoring me, scold me, verbally abuse me, and fondle me!"

Ah, yes. The Nadder incident.

The day where he ended up with a hand on her chest. He also told her off and told her to pick what side she's on.

Not his proudest moment.

"You made me unhappy since we were kids! You were nothing but cold and just like everyone else! You treated me like the outcast I am!"

"I want to be strong for you!"

"I'm not weak anymore. I'm stronger now!"

"Only in spirit! Just because you roam with dragons, doesn't mean you're invincible!"

"You don't believe me? Then have a taste of this!"

She suddenly threw a black-gloved fist at him for a punch, although he ducked just in time.

"Hanna, listen-"

He ducked again to evade another punch. He refused to fight back and harm the love of his life.

"Actually, I-"

He stopped her metal leg from kicking him in the crotch, only to get slapped seconds later. His anger peaked.

"Would you just listen to me?!"

"You're the one not listening! Along with my father! And everyone on this stupid island!"

Swiftly, she slammed the bouquet on his head. He cursed at forgetting to remove the thorns.

"And to answer your question, I picked what side I'm on…opposite of you!"

And then she pushed him out through the window, letting him fall and land painfully hard on the surface. He pulled the roses off his head, revealing small cuts all over his face, and glared up, eyes burning, blue near changing to red.

"Our marriage is gonna happen whatever you like it or not!"

"The day you tame and ride a dragon without killing it will be the day I'll marry you!"

And with that, she slammed the windows shut.

He took that as a challenge. If he wants the girl he loves to love him back, he needs to rethink his courting tactics.


	5. Get Me Out of Here Now!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own 'How To Train Your Dragon'.

* * *

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

Loud, powerful knocks rang through the Haddock house.

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

"Stoick! Stoick, wake up! Open up! I need to talk to ya!"

Gobber's booming voice roused its inhabitants from sleep.

"Gods, I remember that." Hanna grumbled, pulling the covers over her head.

"STOICK!"

"Alright, alright!" Stoick waddled towards the door, opened it and threw a glare at Gobber on the other side. "Gobber, what is it?"

"Stoick! The Berserkers are coming!"

"What?!" Stoick roared, running outside, quickly seeing the Berserker ships on the early horizon.

As Stoick went out, Gobber stuck his head inside to holler, "Hanna! Just to warn ya, Dagur's the chief now!"

"Oh no (!)" She gasped sarcastically. She already knew about 'Dagur the Deranged', especially that he usurped his father, Oswald the Agreeable, and tried to kill his own sister/her best friend. "Wonder what he wants?"

* * *

The Berserkers' sudden arrival brought worried villagers and readied Vikings to the reason why was unexplained.

Hanna stood at the far end of the pier, far from her father, still bitter about yesterday.

The Warriors tried to talk to her, apart from Alaric. He gazed at her longingly while thinking of a better attempt for her heart. Fishlegs tried to make conservation with her. He tried to apologize and attempt to make the intellectual friendship he always wanted. But all he got was a cold glare. He sadly figured that's what he gets for ignoring her out of peer pressure. Tuffnut came up to her with a lustful look in his eyes and flirted with her so badly, she visibly gagged. Feeling a sudden protective urge, Ruffnut came right up and pulled her brother away. But Tuffnut got out of her grasp and ran right back to Hanna, continuing his lame flirting. Snotlout's protective urges were much stronger. This time he showed it physically. He let out a yell and attacked Tuffnut, beating him up.

Hanna stared at the bizarre scene, unable to understand what had happened. Why was Snotlout beating up Tuffnut so brutally just for giving her some attention that made her even more miserable?

"Ow! Stop that!"

Then she looked up and turned, spotting young Gustav coming her way in a zigzag due the Terrible Terror fighting in his tight grip. It bit his ear, making him cringe in pain.

"Stupid Dragon!" He swore, glaring at the small dragon until he saw Hanna and he brightened up. "Oh, hey Hanna!" He held out the Terrible Terror. "This is for you!" It bit his hands again and he grimaced. "I spent all day looking for a dragon for you since you look so miserable and you said you like dragons. So…" He looked away bashfully. "I caught you one."

Hanna, in awe, gently plucked the dragon out of his sore hands and started cradling it gently. Her kindness soothed the feisty little thing and made it as docile as a baby in her arms.

"I think it's really cool that you tame dragons instead of killing them. You're tougher than the rest of us." Gustav said honestly, still blushing.

She couldn't stop herself from smiling wide, then leaning forward and pressing her red lips on his blushing cheek.

Alaric watched them with jealousy running hot in his blood.

A Berserker ship pulled in. Once safely fastened to the pier, a bulky Berserker walked onto the plank, making an overly dramatic announcement.

"Presenting the High Chief of the Berserker tribe, cracker of skulls, slayer of beasts, the great and fearsome...Dagur the Deranged!"

The Berserker steps out of the way for Dagur, who spited and chuckled with crazy eyes. The lunatic boy had become a lunatic man!

Gustav gulped, obviously scared of him. Hanna laid a hand on his shoulder for comfort. Looking from the corner of her eye, she could see Fishlegs shaking in his boots, the twins made disgruntled looks, Snotlout looking like he was scared, and Alaric stuck with that stupid stoic stance.

Some Vikings.

"Hello, Dagur." Stoick grumbled.

Dagur smirked. "Hello, Stoick. So, where are you hiding her?

"Hiding who?"

"Do I look stupid to you?"

"Is that a trick question?" Hanna hissed carefully to Gustav, causing him and her to giggle. Luckily for them, no one else heard them.

"We both know what's going on here. I have it on my excellent instincts that you're hosting my dear sister, Hildr."

"Your sister? Didn't she die in a boating accident a couple of years ago?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. She knew the real truth from Hildr. Dagur covered up killing his father and nearly his sister for chiefdom with excuses, that his father 'retired' and his sister had an 'unfortunate death in a boating accident'.

"Her body was never recovered. She could've wash ashore on some be-" He stopped talking when his gaze wandered to the side, catching sight of Hanna. He had the same lustful look as Tuffnut, but _way_ worse." _Wha-HO!_ Who is _**that?**_ "

Hanna didn't like the way he said it. Neither did Stoick and Alaric.

"A figment of your imagination." She retorted. The Terrorible Terror climbed onto her shoulder and hissed at Dagur.

Dagur laughed manically. He looked her up and down, eyeing every asset of her womanly body until he put together the green eyes and red hair.

"Hiccup?"

Another reason she hated him. Along with being a bloodthirsty manic, he calls her Hiccup!

"Stoick, gimme her hand in marriage!"

"WHAT?!"

"Give me your daughter's hand in marriage NOW!"

"But why, Dagur? Your father never found a marriage between you necessary and besides, you never have shown interest in her before."

"That was before she became…that! All the Viking women are too fat and ugly! She's perfect! Give me her!"

"What am I, smoked salmon?" Hanna angrily demanded. "Dad, just how many men are you selling me to?"

Stoick sent her a scowl, angry at the sudden turn of events. She scowled back, bitterly believing he was blaming her for this mess.

"So, Hanna…" Dagur crept up, creepily breathing in her neck as he slithered an arm around her, crushing her lithe figure against his muscular-but-not-as-muscular-as-Alaric's form. "Tell me…how're you been? What happened to you? I heard you got eaten by a dragon."

She shuddered in disgust at his staring that said _he wanted to eat her_. Then she was yanked out of Dagur's intoxicating grip and put down, facing…

" _Snotlout?"_

Her cousin turned her around, pushed her into Alaric's awaiting arms and turned around, shielding her from Dagur with the bravest face she had seen on him.

"There's no way you're marrying Hanna!" Snotlout told Dagur bravely. "She's engaged to our finest warrior."

Dagur scoffed, though he angrily scowled. "A measly warrior is nothing for a heiress. She's mine!"

Snotlout jumped to protest. "Now, look there, buddy-"

"Snotlout. Enough."

An axe patted his huge chest, pushing him back.

Alaric stepped toward Dagur with perfectly controlled anger. His face was red, his hands tightly gripped his axe. He glared at the Berserker chief.

"If you think you could just waltz in here and take away my fiancée, you're dead meat."

His threat angered Dagur, promoting the crazy man to take out his sword.

"How about a challenge, dude?" His voice was dangerously calm and low. "A battle to the death. The winner gets the woman."

"With pleasure." Alaric answered.

At once, Dagur let out a battle cry and came charging at him. The blonde man agilely dodged and swung his axe, clashing blade against blade.

Everyone watched the boys fight intently, cheering on whoever they want to win. Ruffnut stood protectively by Hanna. The girl of the battle was watching with a mix of boredom and annoyance.

Unable to take it any longer, Hanna took out Inferno and jumped in the middle of the fight, right between Alaric and Dagur. Everyone gasped. Then she started fighting along the unsuspecting boys, performing swiftly, expertly, gracefully, beautifully.

Eventually the fighting boys realized they had a third person: The girl they desired.

"Hanna/Hiccup?"

She smirked cockily at them. The three had their weapons locked together and held high up. Then Hanna wrecked her sword out, causing her flaming sword, Alaric's axe and Dagur's sword to go flying.

"Did I mention I practice sword-fighting?" She said, catching her sword when it came falling down.

The crowd cheered wildly for the real winner, praising her skill and courage. Alaric made no move to pick up his trusty axe. He just stared at Hanna, impressed, actually smiling.

But Dagur wasn't as impressed.

"Hey! You can't fight! You have to wait until I win!" He cried like a spoiled child.

"Hey, crazy man!" Hanna shouted, getting sick with his attitude. "I am NOT a prize to be won!"

"But you are!"

 _ **Slap!**_

Silence.

For the first time ever, Dagur the Deranged of the Berserker Tribe was rejected.

Dagur slowly raised his hand to touch his redden cheek. Just as slowly, he turned to Hanna. His glare got even more dangerous.

"You dare strike me?"

Hanna glared right back. "Yes I dare."

"Hiccup!"

She turned right round, face to face with her angry father. He said nothing as he grabbed her arm and dragged her away from Dagur and Alaric. Dagur's demands to bring her back fell deaf as father and disowned-daughter got further away.

"You crossed this time." Stoick finally spoke, in a hoarse growl. "Do you have any idea how ruthless Dagur is since he took over?"

"I heard the stories." _From his sister and the dragons._

"To offend him is the worse idea anyone could have. You embarrassed him and me by what you did back there!"

"I embarrassed you? So, that's what I was born for! Stoick the Vast's embarrassment! Besides, what am I supposed to do? Let you and Dagur control my life? Force me to marry that deranged nut, forgetting about your _agreement_ with Alaric?"

"As chief, I must make hard decisions for the right reasons."

Then she yanked her arm free and stared at her father. "Does that mean letting yourself get walked over by your enemies?"

She made him go silent, pondering about her words. She had never seen him like this, secretly scared of someone who was younger and smaller than him, yet that someone was a tyrant, a spoiled, mad, selfish, bloodthirsty tyrant (like Joffery Baratheon *cough- _Lannister_ *).

"Maybe if one of you 'mighty Vikings' stood up to him like I did, you wouldn't have him herding you like sheep." She scoffed, blowing her hair out of her eyes. "And you said I'm weak."

"Its not that easy, H-"

"DRAGONS!"

Father and daughter turned their heads quickly and ran back. Coming back, they found Vikings in a panic and Dragons circling above the village.

Hanna gasped, a smile spreading on her face as she recognized the flying reptiles. "Guys?"

Dagur was acting like an overexcited kid on Snoggletog once he saw the Skrill soaring high beyond his grasp. "Take down that Skrill!"

Hildr paled when she saw the Berserkers, especially her own brother. "Yikes! Its my brother, Dagur!"

"The Deranged?" Heather wondered.

"YES!" The poor girl started to panic, quite frantically. "He's a total psychopath! He's the reason why I left home! I can't face him. I'm sorry, I just can't go down there!"

"Its ok. Don't let him see you. Let Boltstriker take the sky and I'll get Hanna." Vipermei reassured.

Hildr nodded shakily and stayed up high while Vipermei soared down, Zhou's bones having no damage done by the flying weapons.

"The Boneknapper! I told yas its real!" Gobber hollered with overly delightful joy.

"Gobber!" Stoick ran up to his best friend. "Gobber, what do we got?"

"Not sure. Hard to tell." Gobber looked up and kept turning around while trying to count the flying dragons above him with his hook-for-a-hand, causing him to get slightly dizzy. "I see a Boneknapper…a Skrill of all things…damn it, those dragons won't stop moving!"

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

"Oh! There's also a Night Fury." Gobber stated obviously. Stoick groaned and rolled his eyes at this.

The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself leapt from the Boneknapper's back and started running fast, eyes darting everywhere, nose held out sniffing, as if it was hunting, searching, looking for something…

Stoick realized Hanna is loose and running free, heading towards the Night Fury! A dragon! She can ride dragons, she claimed! She can escape!

"Alaric! Snotlout! Get Hanna out of here!"

Alaric acted quickly. "Come on, Hanna!"

"No!" Hanna tried to run away, desperate to get to her best friend. But Alaric swiftly scooped her up and hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Put me down, you great oaf!" She banged her fists on his back, causing more damage to herself than him. So she decided to see if he could tango. "Toothless!"

Her beloved Toothless caught sight and sound of her, in the grasp of a young who reminded him of the blonde boy who twisted her arm in the cove and forced her back to the village years ago for her test. Toothless angrily roared, catching the attention of the young warriors.

"NIGHT FURY!" Snotlout screamed. "Run!"

"Tough Viking, you are (!)" Hanna dryly remarked, limply hanging her hands as Alaric ran, as well as the other young Vikings.

Toothless roared once again and gave chase.

"Oh Thor, oh Thor, oh Thor, oh Thor…" Fishlegs ranted.

"Hanna, can you tame Night Furies too?" Gustav asked.

"Not the time, Gustav!" Alaric snapped.

None of them noticed something moving their way, laying a long tail in their way, causing them to crash, accidentally letting go of Hanna. She rolled further than the others.

"Hanna!"

Alaric scampered up to his feet but something swung under his feet, knocking him over. The Vikings saw nothing until Loptr appeared, Heather throwing back her cape.

"Surprise!" Heather smirked while her Changewing roared.

The 'tough Vikings' screamed again.

"Heather!" Hanna cried. A nearby made her turn her and collided with her own dragon. "Toothless!" The Night Fury licked her and lovingly nuzzled her like she had been gone for years. "Its ok, bud, its ok. I'm here."

Alaric couldn't believe what he was seeing. The most feared dragon of all dragons was acting like a puppy dog. Hanna really does have a talent for dragons. No wonder she preferred the company of flying fire-breathing reptiles, compared to the coldness of Vikings.

Then he panicked when Hanna swung one of her long, shapely legs over the Night Fury's back where a saddle sat.

"Hanna!"

"Let's go, Toothless!"

The Night Fury, dubbed 'Toothless', opened its huge bat-wings and flew off before Alaric could reach them.

"Chief!"

"To the boats!"

However, a Scauldron (a _Scauldron_ of all things!) burst out from the water of the docks.

"Ahoy mateys!" Brant greeted, waving his hat to them as he stood on the ocean-dwelling dragon's head. "Sea-King, Water Blast!"

Sea-King the Scauldron shot out powerful gushes of boiling hot water, which the Vikings narrowly evaded.

By the time the Hairy Hooligans and Berserkers got back onto their feet, Brant and Sea-King were already swimming away from Berk, along with Hanna, Toothless and their friends flying fast in the sky.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Dagur wailed, dropping to his knees. He held his fisted hands above him with an angry expression. "I will get my bride back and I will kill all those dragons that took her from her!"

Every Hairy Hooligan was quiet. They all just stared at the horizon, watching the tiny black dot until it disappeared.

* * *

"WHOOOO-HOOOOO!"

Hanna whooped as she and Toothless happily flew in the air, doing loops and rolls out of sheer joy. Toothless settled alongside his fellow Dragons, allowing Hanna to thrust her arms out above her head with a widely bright smile. Her Terrible Terror clung to her back, its tongue rolling out and waving against the wind in its face.

"Free once again! Thank you guys so much. I swear I was going to kill myself back there!"

"Anything for you, Han." Vipermei smiled uncharacteristically softly.

But Hildr was traumatized by her brief 'reunion' with her past. "But I'm afraid to say that my brother will never stop looking until he finds you, and not even dragons, even Toothless can stop him. He's bloodthirsty!"

Hanna scowled. "Dagur, I can deal with. Berk, I rather not."

"Your dad was really gonna put you through an arranged marriage. And to _two different men?_ " Heather questioned, disgust on her tongue.

"One of them being Hildr's deranged brother?" Brant inputted.

"Yep." Hanna smacked her lips and formed a frown. "Remind me to go the opposite end of the Artic for flying for now on."

"Sure."

"Absolutely."

"Totally."

"Aye"

"I second that!"

When the young Dragon Riders made it to the Dragon Sanctuary, Hanna wasted no time in getting off her dragon and started running, passing dragons and evading the crazy babies.

"Mom!"

Valka turned and looked up. "Hanna! What happened?"

Her daughter stopped a few arm's length space between them. Her child only said one word with such heavy feeling.

"Berk."

Oh…Berk.

"Oh honey…"

Mother and daughter filled the space between them to hug each other tightly.

"Oh Mom…I never want to go back there again. Ever."


	6. Lost Then Found

**Disclaimer:** I do not own How to Train Your Dragon or 'Touch the Sky' by Julie Fowlis from Brave. All credits go to Dreamworks, Disney, the song writers, and the record company.

Two months had passed since the Berk incident.

Hanna avoided the island like the plague. That one reunion was enough to emotionally scar her for a long, _long_ time.

Besides…she'd got more important things to do.

Like learn dragonese.

"Come on, bud. Talk to me."

She was trying to coax Toothless into talking in his dragonese and she was also trying to focus on understanding his words.

Toothless made a sound, opening his mouth slightly.

"That's it…" She pushed her forehead against his nose, eagerly waiting for his first word…

Then his tongue came out instead and sloppily licked the whole front of Hanna herself!

"Ah gross!" She jumped back, shaking herself. Thick gooey dragon slobber clung to her. "You know that does not wash out!"

Toothless laughed in his dragon way, not a word of dragonese coming out of him.

She groaned. "This is gonna take a while."

"Hanna!"

The named girl twirled and saw her friends on their dragons, waiting for her as usual.

"Are we flying or what?" Vipermei asked.

"Coming!" Hanna called. She got onto Toothless and, together as one, they flew.

 _When cold wind is a' calling, and the sky is clear and bright_

 _Misty mountains sing and beckon, lead me out into the light_

The Dragon Riders flew to the skies, doing their usual contest of who could off the best stunt.

 _I will ride, I will fly, chase the wind and touch the sky_

 _I will fly, chase the wind and touch the sky_

Hanna, the champion of showing off, easily won by jumping up, spinning around in her flight suit, bursting through a cloud, pretty sparkles everywhere, and elegantly dropped down on Toothless's back.

With the wind rushing through her, she leaned back, cheering happily.

"Whoo-hoo!"

She loved being free!

 _La la la la_

 _La la la la_

 _La la la la la la la_

 _La la la la_

 _La la la la_

 _La la la la la la la_

Later on, the Riders relaxed on a hilltop, their dragons rolled in the grass, drunk on dragon nip.

Hanna laid on her back, arms folded and hands behind her back. She looked to sky, seeing an eagle soaring free. She smiled, imaging herself as that eagle.

 _Where dark woods hide secrets and mountains are fierce and bold_

 _Deep waters hold reflections of times lost long ago_

 _I will hear their every story, take hold of my own dream_

 _Be as strong as the seas are stormy, and proud as an eagle's scream_

Then she decided to do something daring.

Climb up the side of a mountain, beside a waterfall.

Cheered on by her friends down below, she climbed rocks, slipping once but she held on.

 _I will ride, I will fly, chase the wind and touch the sky_

 _I will fly, chase the wind and touch the sky_

 _And touch the sky, chase the wind_

 _Chase the wind, touch the sky_

Eventually she made it to the top.

She pulled herself up and over the edge. She cupped her hands and drank from the falling water. As if the water tasted of wonderful victory, Hanna cheered, spinning around like she was in the air.

 _La la la la_

 _La la la la_

 _La la la la la la la_

 _La la la la_

 _La la la la_

 _La la la la la la la_

She felt daring again. With a grin, she jumped off the cliff!

 _And touch the sky…_

Just as she predicted (or guessed), Toothless leapt off a tree and she plopped on his back, hooked in her leg, and together they flew, followed by their friends.

 _Chase the wind_

 _Chase the wind_

 _Touch the sky…_

The Riders eventually settled down when night rolled in. They set up camp under the stars.

"Why do I have to get firewood?" Hanna had questioned. "I'm the leader of this flock!"

"You spent all the time goofing off, leaving us to the work." Heather told, pointing to the woods. "Now get!"

Hanna groaned and walked off to the pointed direction, and then acted to yell dramatically just for the heck of it. "This is munity. Munity, I tell you!"

"You're such a spoiled princess." Brant chuckled.

"Make sure you get enough wood!" Vipermei

"Shut up, Mei!"

Hearing the crackling behind her, Hanna continued to walk on, looking for firewood. Toothless waddled beside her, and Sharpshot, the Terrible Terror from Gustav, sat on her shoulder.

"Here we go!" Hanna said as she set a good amount of wood on Toothless's back. "That should be enough-"

Suddenly Toothless pushed her, forcing her onto her back.

"Toothless! What is wrong with yo-"

"How hard is it to find a fishbone with a dragon?!"

She shut herself up. _Snotlout?_

"That _fishbone with a dragon_ can be anywhere!"

She pressed herself against a rock, hiding and listening in.

"I don't think we can find a Night Fury at _night_."

"Yeah, Alaric. Why are we looking at night?"

"We have to keep searching. Don't stop for anything if we want Hanna back."

"But how? She's _rides dragons!_ "

"Shut up!"

Still silence fell. Hanna pressed herself against the rock, lowering her breath. She couldn't risk getting found and forced back to Berk.

She must stay.

Absolutely.

Quiet.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Sharpshot sneezed with a squeak and fire shooting out of his mouth.

Hanna was so surprised she hissed. "Sharpshot!"

Then she realized her mistake. Even Toothless slapped his face with his tailfin.

Oh, dragonese would come very handy right about now!

Strong, rough, cold hands placed themselves on her shoulders, giving her chills just before powerfully hoisting her up!

Luckily, she thought fast, by bringing her body up, upside down in the air, and flipped over her capturer. She took out her Inferno, and Toothless and Sharpshot quickly dashed to her sides. She glared fierily at him.

Alaric.

But he wasn't glaring. Sure, he was scowling, but he didn't the Viking coldness in him anymore. And he had scars over him. But that made him all the hotter.

Those scars didn't look like they were made from weapons…

"We're taking you home!"

Hanna stopped pondering to punch Snotlout over her shoulder.

"Over my dead body!"

"Oh yeah…" Tuffnut drooled again, His sister groaned and punched him.

She made a move to mount Toothless when Fishlegs ran out, pleading frantically.

"Hanna! Wait! Please listen! Talk for a moment, please?"

She saw the hopeful look in his eyes. The truth, the sincerity, the peacefulness.

She sighed reluctantly. "There better be no traps."

Toothless growled, warning them it better not be a trap, crouching low to the ground, ready to pounce.

"We admit we're searching for you." Alaric confessed, quietly calmly coming from him.

"It was chief's idea!" Snotlout burst out. "Hanna, you **have** to come back! Uncle Stoick has officially lost it!"

Hanna raised a brow. "Oh really?"

"You don't know what he's like. Angry, shouting at everybody. Throwing weapons at every living thing he sees!"

"Uh, that sounds like vintage Stoick the Vast to me."

"You think we rowed in a boat for two weeks, checking every island for you if it was vintage Stoick the Vast? HE'S DRIVING EVERYONE CRAZY!"

"I'm not going back just because daddy says so. He doesn't control me. Even chiefs don't get everything they want."

"You think Stoick is bad, oh you're wrong! Dagur is more berserk than ever, looking for you and the Skrill!"

"Yeah, he thinks you were taken by dragons." Ruffnut grunted.

"You really think after finding I can ride dragons, I was kidnapped by one?"

"Dagur thought so." Fishlegs inputted.

"He's an idiot. Now get of here before I let Toothless Plasma Blast you."

Toothless happily opened his purple-glowing mouth to scare the young Viking.

"Wait, Hanna-" Alaric reached out for her, but he was interrupted by a roar.

One not from Toothless and definitely not from SharpShot.

Another dragon!

What was it this time?

A Monstrous Nightmare? A Deadly Nadder? Another Night Fury?

Worst.

A Skrill

Hildr riding Boltstriker burst through the trees, the Skrill's body pulsing with electricity and Hildr's metal armor lighting up.

"Skrill!" Fishlegs and Snotlout screamed in fearful unison.

"Hanna!" Hildr cried. Seeing the Viking, she tried to reel her dragon back. "No, Boltstriker!"

Too late

Boltstriker fired blasts of lightning upon seeing the Viking, immediately believing them as the enemy. Everyone jumped out of the way, swiftly dodging the blasts.

Everyone except Snotlout. As he was running, a bolt hit him in the head, causing him to stop, drop to his knees, and jabber in a weird, mouthy, tonguey way.

"Hanna!" Hildr hugged her friend. "Are you-" However, the girl glanced to Hanna's 'other friends' and, on instinct and impulse, pulled out her dagger. "Take one step closer and you'll be spilling blood from your eyeballs."

"Uh. Feisty." Tuffnut grunted.

"Are you a Dragon Rider too?" Fishlegs asked.

Boltstriker crept beside Hildr, nuzzling his head against her. She glanced to him, then put her dagger back into her boot and lovingly nozzle her dragon back, earning faces from the Vikings. Hanna smiled, used to her sweet affectionate style. Boltstriker didn't seemed to mind, he quite enjoyed him like a child enjoyed attention.

Then Hanna turned to the side and spotted Snotlout in his position. Wait, was his helmet _smoking?_

"Uh, Snotlout, are you okay?" Hanna inquired.

"Ha, he's better than okay!" Tuffnut exclaimed, his tone of voice mixing with cheer, impressed, and excitement. "Did you see that lightning bolt to the head?"

Hildr knew what happened to the mutton-headed Viking. "Oh, Sorry."

"No, it was awesome!" Tuffnut gushed, making her blush.

Snotlout shook himself and opened his mouth. Everyone expected him to shout, not drop words of Gibberish.

"You know, Tuffnut's right. He is better than okay." Alaric grinned gleefully. Snotlout talked gibberish again, sounding like a clucking chicken. "And making more sense than usual."

"Yeah…that's the side effect of getting hit in the head by a Skrill's lightning bolt." Hanna explained. It happened once when the Skrill got out of the iceberg and the Riders steered clear whenever Bolstriker 'let loose'.

"Okay, he's out of it, so Hanna, if you will-" Alaric started to said but Snotlout cut him off by gibbering angrily with his arms crossed stubbornly.

"Snotlout, we have no idea what you're saying!" Alaric snapped.

"Sure we do. He said _I'm perfectly fine_." Tuffnut explained. Then Snotlout blabbered again. "Said it again. See, I've told them." Snotlout gibbered-mumbled to himself stubbornly while everyone else stared at Tuffnut. He stared back. "What? I speak post-lightning Snotlout."

"Ready?" Hildri gasped, very impressed.

Hanna couldn't believe it. "How many times has this guy been hit by lightning?"

"Often enough." Tuffnut shrugged only to have Snotlout correct him. "Oh, really? 12, 12 times?" Snotlout fisted his hand, jabbering angrily. "He said, _enough talk. The Skrill's all mine_." Snotlout's lips curled into a smug smirk. "And Tuffnut is the toughest of us all.'" Then fell into a frown. Snotlout shouted blabber at him, which he waved off. "He implied the last part."

Hanna sighed, getting sick of them already. Quickly, she flicked a switch on her Inferno and out sprout green gas. The gas covered the area, engulfed the people and dragons in its thick coat and strange scent.

In the smoke, Fishlegs was running around as he got sick on the scent, Snotlout yelling out words of nonsense as he chocked on the foulness, Ruffnut and Tuffnut simply twirling with blissful faces and Alaric coughed onto his arm.

"Wait." Alaric took a sniff. "This smells familiar."

"And really good…" Ruffnut drooled, drunk on the smell.

Blue eyes grew wide. "Wait a minute…"

Memories of a time of dragon training in early years came flooding, one in peculiar of when Gobber showed them the Hideous Zippleback, when Hanna first showed her 'talent'. On that day, the arena was filled with the same gas…

"Its Zippleback gas!"

No sooner, there was the sound of a spark.

 _ **BOOM!**_

* * *

Two dragons with laughing riders flew away just as the spark lit.

"Weren't you a little harsh on them?" Hildr asked timidly after laughing so much.

"No!" Hanna retorted feistily. "They were harsh on me! A few harsh words, some punches and maybe a dash of Zippleback gas wouldn't hurt them!" She turned away. But a smirk crept on her face. "Much."

Toothless chortled in a similar, devious manner. Hildr, however, was worried.

Suddenly the dragons stopped in mid-air, almost jolting the women off their saddles. The dragons started to growl threateningly, eyes dangerously narrowed and shifting to every direction.

"Toothless? What's wrong, bud?"

"Boltstriker, sweetie, what's the matter?" Then Hildr gasped. "Hanna, watch out!"

Arrows on fire came out of nowhere, shooting at the Dragons Riders, who nimbly dodged them, but more arrows came, along with nets and bolas.

"What's happening?!" Hildr cried.

"Hang on!" Hanna shouted.

The weapons kept coming, fast and hard, not giving them any chance of escaping without getting hurt. The bolas and nets caught them, causing the dragons to come crashing down with their riders.

The girls looked up, groaning from the impact of the fall, and gasped.

Dagur stood over them, grinning madly.


	7. Final Choice

**Disclaimer:** I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. All credits go to Dreamworks.

* * *

"Where's Hanna with that firewood?!" Heather demanded with clattering teeth. The coldness of the night was creeping and she could feel it, explaining why she was shivering.

Not even her coat of dragonscales and Loptr's body heat could help her!

Why was it that Hanna had to make things so complicated?

Even Hildr went off to find Hanna and she wasn't back as well!

Then warmth engulfed her. She blinked and looked up to Brant's smiling face as he wrapped a cloak around her, a warmer one made out of thick wool. Though the memory of her parents killed by pirates still burns, she knew Brant was no cruel pirate, he just loved the open sea.

 _ **BOOM!**_

"What the?" Vipermei gasped.

"That's gotta be Hanna." Brant said.

"No doubt about it." Heather retorted.

They got onto their dragons and flew to the direction of the bomb. On the way, a small green dragon smacked into Vipermei, almost knocking her off her Boneknapper. With her face covered by the creature, the Chinese girl peeled it off and held it out.

"Sharpshot?"

Hanna's Terrible Terror blinked back at her, panting.

"Sharpshot, where's Hanna and Hildr?"

The small dragon replied but in his dragon tongue which was nothing but growls to the young adults.

"Oh man, I wish we know dragonese already." Brant moaned.

"Yeah, that would've come really handy." Vipermei agreed.

"Actually…" Heather spoke quietly slyly. "I don't think we need dragonese when we could only look down."

She pointed downwards. Brant and Vipermei glanced down, seeing 5 Vikings wandering in a daze, green and black in the faces in a fog of smoke. Judging by the smell, it came from a Zippleback not found within miles but perhaps from a weapon instead…

Snotlout also looked up and gulped, still gurgling gibberish. "Ho boh."

"Ho boh?" Alaric asked, hunched over his knees after coughing from the smoke.

"Hobo? Where?" Tuffnut dimwittedly twisted his head left to right.

"Uh, guys?" Fishlegs said, sounding frightened. "I think he meant 'oh no'."

Alaric raised his head. He almost got an attack when he saw _three more dragons with riders_ hovering over him and his team. One dragon, one made out of bones, had Snotlout in its claws. Its rider, a slender pale-skinned woman, glared at him from the dragon's other claw.

"Where. Is. Hanna. And. Hildr." She demanded in a fierce hiss.

* * *

There was a storm brewing.

A whole armada of Berserkers floated near a beach of an island.

Two dragons and two women tied down.

"Do you always bring your armada everywhere you go? I mean seriously, you're the king of armadas!"

Dagur only laughed madly in response at Hanna's feisty statement. "Oh, Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup…You so funny." A dangerous, lecherous sneer crept onto his face. "And so gorgeous…"

"Dagur, if you think you can have me, you're more deranged then I thought! I don't want a husband and be a wife, I want a LIFE!"

Next thing she knew, she was thrown on the wooden floor with Dagur's sweaty body on top of hers.

"That's it. I'm not gonna wait to take you in marriage." He sneered while unbuckling his belt to Hanna's horror and disgust. "If I take you now, you'll have to marry me anyway."

She trashed and screamed from underneath. He mockingly laughed as he pulled his britches now, then his triumph took a turn. He suddenly winced, face turning red, and a little whine squeaked out of him. He rolled off his would-be victim, her metal leg up as she did with Alaric, only _extra hard._

"Ye old metal leg trick. Works every time." She grinned. Also because of her trusty prosthetic leg, she successfully managed to free herself.

She went over to Hildr and freed her as well but their dragons were caged on another ship. Hanna cursed and looked for a way to escape. She had to hurry before Dagur regained his pride, ego and insanity.

The dragons roared from the other ship, worrying their riders even more.

"Hanna, we have to get out dragons fast!" Hildr urged.

"I know, I know. There's gotta be a way." Hanna looked up to the night's sky, thunder and lightning clashing above. "Boltstriker"

"Hold the Skrill down!" Dagur bellowed, standing on wobbling legs with his pants around his ankles. "And seize my bride!"

Some Berserkers charged at the two women, even if one of them was their crazy chief's sane sister. The women agilely dodged the men running at them like bulls.

" _ **HHIIII-YYYYAAAAAHHHHHH!"**_

A black flash jumped on a massive Berserker who almost took Hanna down.

"Vipermei!"

"What kind of friend are you, leaving me out of the fun?" Vipermei grinned playfully. She turned and karate-chopped the Berserker closest to her. "HIYA!"

Hanna laughed and heard roars. Looking up, her smile switched for a grin as she saw dragons above. Then she heard a horn blown and glanced down, seeing a ship with the crest of Berk on its sail. Guessed the stubborn Vikings chose to sail instead.

The dragons and the riders delayed Dagur's ship long enough for the Berkians to catch up and once within reach, the Berkians evaded.

Snotlout was the first to reach deck, waving an axe wildly. "HANNA, COUSIN SNOTLOUT IS COM- WHOA!"

He stopped upon seeing the Chinese girl who threatened him with a dragon doing kung-fu, performing impressive flips and kicks and punches with impossible speed.

"Wow, that chick is crazier than the twins!" He noted.

A brawl broke out. Dragons (apart from two tied down ones) flew fire and used their special abilities to aid their riders. Vikings bellowed battle cries and swung their weapons at their enemies. Stoick and Alaric fought their way toward Hanna, fighting on her own with her flaming sword. But before they could touch her, her hands were held behind her back painfully and a knife was pressed against her throat.

Hanna gulped as she was hostage by Dagur.

"DAGUR!" Stoick roared.

The deranged man chuckled darkly, only making the girl in his grasp more uncomfortable.

"Hanna!" Alaric cried.

"Let her go." Stoick demanded.

"Now, now, big guy." Dagur said. "If I can't have her…" He begun to turn the knife, letting his pretty captive feel the sharp edge. "…No one can."

"Dagur, no!" Hildr cried.

"Remember little sister, what's yours is mine and what's mine is definitely mine."

Oh, yes. That was always how it was with having a brother like Dagur. **That** was what she had to endure for years since her birth.

She suddenly felt light-headed. She gripped the railings and breathed heavily while her head hanged over the edge, her curls dipping down. The rippling water reflected her weak and shattered appearance, how she really felt.

She lifted her head and locked eyes with her dragon from across the water. Her ferocious dragon looked so helpless, locked under layers of heavy chains.

"Boltstriker…"

She wept. Crying made her feel so helpless but it was all she could do.

" _ **Hildr…"**_

The girl of the name snapped her head up, almost not believing what she heard.

 _Did Boltstriker…?_

Boltstriker's big eyes pleaded to her.

" _ **Hildr…"**_

He was talking to her.

" _ **Hildr, can you hear me?"**_

He was talking and she understood him!

" _ **Yes, sweetie, I can!"**_

 **Dragonese!**

" _ **We did it! We learnt dragonese before Hanna and Toothless! I'm so proud of you!"**_

A sudden rush of powerful emotions ran through her like a tsunami, like a wind, like a dragon's fire, a wave of emotions she never felt before.

But emotions she heard about.

Emotions fueled by her love for her friends, her dragon, her father…

…and anger at her brother.

With that in mind, she turned back around, her hair swinging as she swiftly moved, picking up her shield and threw it like a Frisbee, hitting Dagur square in the head and allowed Hanna's escape.

"Thanks, Hildr!" Hanna smiled brightly, standing behind her friend. But all she got in return was an eerily silence. "Hilly?" She used Hildr's special nickname in question. She glanced and gasped. "Whoa…"

Dagur, groaning with a bad headache, staggered up, beginning to glare at his sister. "Why you little-"

"Dagur…" Hildr growled as feral as her Skrill.

Everyone on deck went silent, tensing at the change of mood. Hildr the Sane was no longer sane. Her pretty brown eyes seemed dangerously red.

Dagur was taken aback. What happened to his mild-mannered baby sister?

"Uh…what's wrong with her?" Heather asked quietly.

"I don't know. She's usually so sweet and quiet." Brant whispered.

"I think the berserker in her is awakening." Vipermei hissed.

"Uh oh."

To add to the mood, the storm got more violent, lightning clapping in the dark skies above. Boltstriker roared, feeling the urge to fly in the clouds.

" _Dagur…"_

Hildr slowly walked towards her brother, scaring him more with each step she takes.

"Now, Hildr. Calm down." Dagur begged. "Take it easy. We can work this out, we're siblings!"

"You never were a brother to me."

"So I chopped off the heads of your dolls, dumped honey on your hair, put clement in your shoes and pushed you overboard…no big deal, right?"

"I'm sick and tired letting you treat me like your playtoy! And now you're dragging my friends into it and taking _**my dragon**_!?"

Loud clash of thunder clapping only added to the drama.

"Father was uncertain of letting you take chiefship. He loved you but you loved sadism more. Father disinherited you because he loved you! He wanted to save you. But you murdered him in gratitude."

A chorus of gasps rang out. Dagur gulped now that his big secret was out.

"You killed father and tried to kill me so no one will know of your crime! You tainted the honor of the Berkserker tribe! Yes, we're berserk but we never, _ever_ slain our family and friends, abuse our power or even threaten our allies!"

Lightning stroke, hitting Hildr directly. Everyone cried out but Hildr was in no danger. Thanks to her metal chain armor, she was safe from the hit. The lightning sparkled her armor, lighting her up, sparks like stars jumping off her body. With her face angrily molded, her hair fanning out and her body lit up, she looked so terrifying.

It was like seeing the almighty god of thunder, Thor before them.

Tuffnut Thorston stared in total awe. "Whoa…"

She was certainly a sight to behold. She scared every Viking on deck. Even her own big brother.

 _ **Especially Dagur.**_

He tripped on his feet as he tried to stagger back in fear, desperate to get away even if it means taking the cowards' way out.

Desperate, he decided to lung at his sister, his dagger out. Hildr agilely dodged and pulled out her seax dagger. Dagur wheeled around and lunged at her again.

" _Hildr!"_ Hanna screamed.

Dagur was on top of Hildr now, waving his knife-wielding hand crazily, trying to make a stab, yelling _"Die, die, die!"_

A stab was made in the end.

But not on Hildr.

Dagur gasped.

Hildr pushed him off of her, her seax drenched in blood, leaving a wound in his chest.

Dagur staggered backwards, breathing deeply. Losing his balance came quickly and he fell overboard, sinking like a rock into the water, disappearing in the sea without a proper Viking funeral.

Hildr was left standing, as the true 'berserker'.

Until she gasped, horror masking her face. She abruptly dropped to her knees and breathe heavily in shock of what she has done for the good.

She killed her own brother.

Overwhelmed by stress and excitement, her breathing quickened as she started to cry. Her fellow riders rushed to her side, gentle hands laying on her arms and shoulders.

"Ok, breathe, breathe…" Heather taught, helping her.

A huge hand patted Hildr's shoulder, surprising the traumatized girl to snap her head up and glaze at the massive chief of the village her deceased brother terrorized.

"It was for the best, lass." Stoick said softly.

Hanna also gazed at her father, never seeing this soft side of him in public before. A slight ting of jealousy stroked her insides. Especially the one in her chest.

* * *

Shortly later, the ships docked back at the beach.

Toothless and Boltstriker were freed, hopping to their wide-arms-opened riders.

Hanna and Toothless's happy reunion was cut-off when the Night Fury sloppily licked the girl's body.

"Ahh! Toothless!"

"Boltstriker!"

Hildr nuzzled heads with her precious Skrill. Her feelings of guilt and shock was lifted off her shoulders. But that reunion was interrupted as well, but more subtly than the last pair. It was the Berserkers bowing before Hildr.

Hildr was surprised once more, in a milder way. _**"What are they doing?"**_

Boltstriker narrowed his eyes. Then he understood the situation. _ **"They're accepting you as alpha. You overthrown their previous leader in a fight, as like dragon do."**_

" _ **Alpha? You mean chief? Oh my gods…"**_

She pressed her hands on her chest, panting. Just what she needed, another overwhelming headache.

But in a few minutes of thinking about it, she slowly made a realization. Killing her brother meant a new chief must be elected.

"Guys…I…I've decided to go home."

Her friends stared blankly at her.

"What?" Hanna gasped out.

"I need to fix what Dagur has broken. I'm sorry, but I can't make myself turn my back on my birthplace any longer. I feel…different. I feel…almost like my father. He wouldn't want me to walk away."

As much she wanted her to stay in the free life they shared together, Hanna understood. Hildr's relationship was very different from her own with her dad. Oswald the Agreeable was a kind man who didn't deserved to be murdered by his own son, even if he was deranged. It would be selfish to force her friend to stay and forever remember the guilt.

So Hanna blinked, opening teary eyes. "Its ok."

"Do what your gut tells you." Vipermei added with a wink and a thumbs-up.

Now Hildr tear up, more than Hanna.

"Thank you!" She cried as she ran open-armed forward and hugged her friends. She hugged Hanna longer and tighter and whispered, "Thank you, Hanna. I wouldn't be alive if I haven't met you."

Hanna grinned in her friend's shoulder and tightened her arms.

"Hanna."

She broke away and looked to her father. As if it was possible, he seemed older and even frailer than the last time she saw him.

Hanna's friends gave her some space to let her talk with her dad, watching from the side.

Toothless stayed right behind her, crouching readily for any funny business.

"Hanna, please…" Stoick begged.

Hanna didn't answer at first. For the first time, aside from her mother, herself and her fellow riders, Dragons and Vikings worked together in a way but she knew Stoick was still too stubborn to understand.

"Dad, I can't come back."

"Hanna, please. Do it for your mother."

 _Oh snap._

"My mother would **never** have wanted this!" Hanna lashed out in angry offense. Did he know so little of her mother aka his wife that much? "She was different like me, remember?"

Stoick was startled by the outlash. "How did you-"

"Dad, you have to understand. I'm different. I'm like a real Viking but for dragons!"

"Now, you listen here! The problem is that you always-"

"I'm not the problem here! The real problem is that you always believe I'm the problem when I'm not!"

"Young lady, I had it with this! We're going home and that's that!"

"Stop being so spoiled, dad! You're worse than Snotlout! You can't have things go your way all the time! You always said that as chief, you have to make difficult choices! Let's see how you handle this." "Either Berk change its ways and I stay…or stay the same and I stay away."

That stunned him, giving her the chance to swiftly mount Toothless, nod her heads at her team and took off to the black sky like a rocket.

Her friends followed suit, apart from Hildr who stayed behind for a moment.

"I'll swing by in a week's time for your answer. That and to fix what Dagur had damaged." She said to Stoick. Then she held tight onto Boltstriker riding a shooting lightning bolt.

"Wow…" Tuffnut sighed again.

The rest of the Vikings just stared after the flyers.

At least they had a chance.

But it was also a choice.


	8. Decisions, Decisions

**Disclaimer:** I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. All credits go to Dreamworks.

* * *

"You can't be serious! Letting that she-demon back here!"

As soon as Stoick and the young Vikings returned to Berk, Stoick announced an immediate council meeting to discuss Hanna's compromise.

Stoick groaned, brewing a headache. "Mildew, my daughter will _only_ return _**if**_ Berk is willingly learn her ways with the dragons."

"Then don't be willing!"

"We can't change everything just so you can keep your daughter." Spitelout said.

"Hanna's got a point. She knows she doesn't fit our ways." Mulch reasoned. His fondness for the girl overtopped his dislike for dragons.

"She was born a Viking and she betrayed us for the dragons. Us, her own kind!" Mildew ranted.

"But all she did was ride them instead of killing them!" Bucket protested protectively over Hanna.

"She found the nest and didn't tell us!" Sven reminded.

"She found out why the dragons were raiding and defeated that big ugly queen dragon, _all by herself_! No other person, Viking or not, has _ever_ done that." Gobber proudly declared. "She has different strengths. Some people are just…different than others. Right, Stoick?"

Stoick turned away. But the memory of Valka pleading to stop killing dragons the burnt in his mind.

"We're Vikings! We raid all the time! So what if dragons raided us? They were only trying to survive!" Gobber continued to rant. "Things have been slow since the dragons stopped raiding and now that Dagur is out of the picture, maybe its time for a change."

"Even if to say we agree to change tradition, how would that benefit our village?" Spitelout questioned.

"Hanna would have a few ideas for that."

"That girl, so resourceful and intelligent…" Mulch mused.

The doors suddenly threw open and in walked the young Warriors, Alaric in the lead.

"Did you decide yet?" Alaric asked.

"We're still discussing, lad." Stoick answered firmly.

"I wonder what's its like to fly?" Bucket wondered out loud, daydreaming whimsically. He didn't really see the point in fighting dragons anymore.

"You really think the old coots will give up dragon-hating to bring Hanna back?" Snotlout whispered.

"I'm more concerned what would happen when they make either choice." Fishlegs replied.

"I say bring on the dragons!" Ruffnut exclaimed.

"Can you image the destruction we can make?" Tuffnut wondered with devilish glee.

Mulch gulped as he saw the twins' wicked grins. "On second thought, maybe learning to ride dragons have a few disadvantages."

"At least Hanna never destroys everything on purpose like those two!" Bucket pointed out.

The doors opened for the second time and in entered Gothi, still alive, and a young redheaded girl.

"Gothi," Stoick stood up from his chair, hands flat on the table. "What brings you here?"

"Gothi has something she like to share." Kerstin explained, opening a case of black soot.

The mute old woman dipped the end of her staff in the soot and drew her words on the wooden floor. Gobber got up from his seat, walked over to the soothsayer and looked over her small form, peering at the Norse symbols she drew.

Gobber took his time in reading Gothi's stick-writing, making the hall tense with suspense.

"What's she saying, Gobber?" Stoick asked.

"She says… _An eye of newt, a moose and a golden flute?_ What the- **OW!?"**

Gothi shook her head, holding her staff firmly, while Gobber rubbed his head.

Looks like he got the runes wrong.

Again.

"She says she chose Hanna those years ago at the killing ring because she showed the most potential with dragons." Kerstin corrected, folding her arms.

"But she wasn't killing them!" Spitelout protested.

Gothi wrote one rune for Kerstin to explain.

"Exactly." Kerstin glanced at the new runes Gothi wrote. "She says she saw that Hanna has a great destiny ahead of her." Her mentor wrote more. "This village will not survive this season if we do not let change take its course." As she read the runes, her face was made more worriedly. "We must…" She trailed off.

"What?" Stoick demanded. "We must what?"

Kerstin looked up, staring at her chief. "Accept Hanna as she is."

* * *

"They'll never change."

Hanna paced back and forth, ranting her heart out.

"What was I thinking? They're **VIKINGS!** Might as well argue with a rock!"

Her mother and their dragons just watched her.

"You said so yourself, mom, some people won't change."

"You gave your father what he need." Valka reasoned softly. "He needs to know that he can't force you to return unless the Vikings listen."

"But what if he's too stubborn to change? What if he chooses pride over love? What if Berk decides I'm not worth the effort to change?" She sighed after ranting so much. "Mom…How you did end up with dad in the first place?"

Valka was taken aback by this. But nonetheless, she sighed and then said. "I was different, much like you. Growing up in Berk wasn't easy. I wasn't much of a fighter , I'm more of a thinker. I weird and everyone knew it, even your father. But still…" A soft smile graced her aging face. "Your father was persistent. But I'm afraid…I feel…like we were never gonna work though. I have to stay away, I'm too different. But you…you have a chance to make a difference." The woman reached out and cuffed her daughter's face, staring into the same green eyes. "You're braver than I. I know you can face your fear and not fall."

Her thumb wiped a tear that Hanna shed. The younger girl's eyes blinked a few times.

"What if I do fall?"

"You get back up. If anything, you're just like your father: yak-headed!"

The women ended up laughing, the tense mood lightening.

* * *

The dreaded day came.

The Dragon Riders accompanied Hildr and her ships to Berk. It took all of Hanna's willpower to not turn around and fly away when she saw the cursed isle in the distance.

Eventually, Berk came to view. The ship in the lead docked and the same bulky Berserker stood on the edge of the ship, arms out for another dramatic entrance.

"Presenting the High Chief of the Berserker tribe…defender of peace, tamer of beasts, the great and wise…Hildr the Sane!"

Boltstriker flew down, landing on deck with a gust of sandy wind caused by his powerful wings. His rider slipped off his saddle effortlessly, no trouble in flying in a dress. Hildr was always the more feminine and polite out of her friends so this was usual for her.

Hildr wasn't the girl she was before. Sure, she was still sweet, calm and cautious, but she has matured more regally and strongly, in mind and stature. She was clad in new clothes, appearing mature and regal, a chiefess. She had worn a yellow dress with long flowing sleeves and slit sides, black leather leggings underneath, white scaly boots and a black belt with a silver buckle embedded with a Skrill, her tribe's symbol and her dragon. Her hair was gathered mostly to the top of her head, braids running alongside the sides of her head.

The Berserker bowed low with more respect for her than for Dagur and stepped aside for her to walk regally down the plank and onto the pier. She walked slowly toward Stoick, accompanied by his council and the young Warriors. Tuffnut stared at Hildr more differently than he did with Hanna. It was mildly lusty with more admiration and another emotion unacknowledged by Vikings.

"Chief Stoick."

"Chiefess Hildr."

They stared at one another, hard.

"Well?" Hildr asked.

"Berk will change and learn the ways of the Dragon Rider in hope for a better future."

"Shoot!" Vipermei hissed.

Hanna groaned in agreement. She was hoping he choose sticking to the old and easy dragon-killing ways, like the old-fashioned Viking he was. Or supposed to be.

Hildr sighed. "Then let's get to work."


	9. One Step at a Time

**Disclaimer:** I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. All credits go to Dreamworks.

* * *

Stoick insisted on a feast. The great hall was filled with people, food was piled on the tables, drinks were filled and drank, songs were singing.

The Riders sat at the main table beside Hildr, who sat beside Stoick. Hanna sat beside Hildr, only an arm's reach away from her father. Stoick wanted to reach out to her so much but even he knew it would not be wise without taking baby steps.

"Get back you!"

Startled by the outburst, Hanna turned to see Vipermei clocking Snotlout in the face, causing him to fall over. But he only got back up 10 seconds later, wiping the victorious smirk off Vipermei's face.

"Wow, I love a strong woman!"

Vipermei groaned out in frustration. Throughout the feast, he kept pestering her with what he called 'compliments' and she tried barking him off but he stuck to her like Death Song's amber.

"Get lost, Stinklout!"

"Stinklout is my great-uncle. I'm Snotlout, your future husband!"

Vipermei threw another punch at him and turned to her best friend. " _You're_ related to _him?_ "

"Unfortunately."

"I don't know how you put up with him. It's really hard to mock Vikings. I mean, come on! They're proud as Hel and their names are insults!"

"Yeah, we Vikings thought bearing horrible names will scare off the trolls."

All of the Riders' dragons ate fish and drank water at the hall of the back, just behind their riders. The villagers kept their distance from the huge winged reptiles.

Then old Mildew reared his ugly head.

"Oh my gods, you're still alive?" Hanna crackled, making everyone laugh, even the proud and difficult Viking men.

"I'm not happy to see you either, missy." Mildew complained. "It's disgraceful to let those beasts here in our grand hall. And even worse that you're here!"

Hanna groaned, knowing the old coot would be the most difficult. "Mildew, even you should know that everything has an end, even wars. So what it didn't end the way you wanted?" She shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes. "Time doesn't stay still forever. It changes to a new age and its time we go with it. And it's about time we change, just as the seasons do and not just age and stay the same."

Stoick slowly grinned, proud and impressed at her words of wisdom.

"Oh, please! The only reason why everyone wants you is because you're the only woman in the Village who doesn't look like a yak. Or smells like one. Stoick only wants to marry you off to Hofferson and make him chief as planned."

Hanna gasped.

"Mildew!" Stoick shouted.

That was **not** the reason why!

Toothless growled in defense of his rider.

"Back down, you beast!" Mildew shouted at the dragon.

Hanna turned to face her father with teary eyes. "Is that true, dad?"

As much as Stoick wanted to deny the accusation, he couldn't deny that he wanted to her to marry Alaric and complete the deal.

Hanna scoffed in anger, eyes leaking with tears. "When are you ever going to see that dragons are not bad? Was this all a trick to get me back to Berk? If you're not gonna make an effort, then there's no point in letting me stay here any longer than necessary. Come on, guys."

Stoick stood up from his seat, one hand reaching out for his fleeing child. "No, no, no, no! It's not!"

Gobber flew to his defense. "We had on a meeting and we all agreed the change will benefit the village greatly. Mostly because Gothi prophesied Berk will die if it doesn't change by the year."

"If you don't want to die, then make an effort in changing!" Hanna spun around and jumped onto the nearest table, standing on it, looking over the people and dragons in the hall, calling out. "When are you gonna see that? The war is over! Dragons and Vikings don't have to be enemies anymore! The dragons were only slaves to a Red Death, _which I slayed_ , and were raiding us for food for that tyrant dragon! And before that, they were only trying to survive, like we do! Dragons are just like people."

"No they're not!" Mildew yelled as he furiously waved his staff. Toothless stops growling as he eyes the thick stick with childlike interest. "Dragons are nothing but bloodthirsty, mindless, ruthless mon-"

The old man was rudely (not quite) interrupted. His rant stopped abruptly by the Night Fury chomping down on his staff.

Toothless blinked innocently twice at Mildew who just stared right back for two seconds until he regained his senses.

"Hey, let go!"

He tried yanking his staff out of the dragon's mouth but Toothless was way stronger than an old Viking. Everyone laughed at the amusing sight of a tug-a-war between Mildew and Toothless.

Hanna laughed also, her upset mood vanished and her face was placed with a playful grin. "Or in my case, dragons are just like pets."

She jumped down from the table and approached the pair.

"Toothless…" Her dragon's ears perked up, snapping his full attention to her. Mildew whined as his staff got out of his grip.

"Sit."

Toothless sat.

"Drop the stick."

He dropped the stick, leaving his tongue wagging. Mildew went to receive his possession, only find it covered in slobber.

Hanna giggled. "Good boy, now lie down."

Toothless dropped down.

"Roll over."

Mildew shrieked when the dragon rolled over his way. "Atta boy! Now Speak!"

Toothless roared which frightened the old man, erupting a girlish scream.

"I thought Vikings are supposed to be brave." Heather whispered to her friends, earning snickers apart from Hildr who just rolled her eyes.

"You see? Dragons are personalities of all types. They attack when threaten, they hunt when hungry, and they play when happy. They're territorial, stubborn, hardheaded, difficult to communicate with…" Hanna knelt on one leg and caressed her dragon's head lovingly. Rider and dragon touched foreheads, sharing that deep, emotional bond. Hanna raised her head and stared into big green eyes. "They're no different than us. They're Vikings with scales. And we're dragons with hammers and skin."

As she rose to full figure, she found that she had the hall of Vikings in awe at her 'little' display.

"So…" She started awkwardly. "Anyone interested to change?"

About immediately on her word, hands up shot, voice calling out eagerly and excited.

She chuckled. "Well, that wasn't what I expected."

* * *

"Wow…" Snotlout breathed after seeing his cousin play around with her dragon. "That Night Fury was just putty in her hands."

"She is so cool!" Gustav exclaimed.

Alaric, however, was glowered. His blue eyes burned red with anger and mixed with green with envy. Watching the girl he _worshipped_ engaging in a close friendship with a dragon made his blood boil.

"Well, this is great(!)" He remarked. "How am I supposed to compete with her slobbering overgrown puppydog best friend who happens to also be the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself?"

"And Viking unions are forever! They can only be broken in Valhalla!" Fishlegs reminded.

Alaric glared at him for that unhelpful reminder.

"So Alaric has to make Hanna fall in love with him by the time they marry or else be doomed in an everlasting, loveless union?" Snotlout asked.

"Or unless Hanna kills him first." Ruffnut offered.

"Or herself." Tuffnut challenged.

"No, I'm pretty sure she'll kill him."

Alaric groaned.

They'll need a miracle.

For what? Getting along with dragons or love?

Both.

* * *

No one says change is easy, Dragons and Berk knew that.

When Hanna gave the good word that allowed, some dragons flocked to the island and made themselves at home.

The beginning of the change was rocky. Two different species with a history of bloodshed attempting to live together in harmony was easier said than done.

Simply put, the situation was a struggle.

There were the problems of space, getting along, the dragons eating the village's food supply, the livestock too scared by dragons to produce milk and eggs, the dragons' huge clumsy bodies and fire-breathing habits.

In time, the Vikings and dragons settled into a contented peace. They were finally able to live together, yet the animals were still shellshocked, even when the dragons promised only to eat fish.

Gothi's prediction came true when a snow storm threatened Berk.

The animals got loose and ran amuck in the storm, too powerful and too dark for the villagers to find them. But the Riders had no problems in rounding the animals up. The animals calmed down at how the dragons were willing to protect the livestock.

The snow storm could've slowly kill the village without them.

* * *

"Dad, that is not how you approach a dragon!"

"This is how I always approach a dragon!"

Hanna groaned. She was trying to teach her father how to ride a dragon to help with his chiefing…

…with difficulty.

Toothless growled, a red bump forming on his scaly black head.

"You want some more, you…"

"Dad, he needs to know he can trust you. Not just because you're chief."

"I am the chief!"

"Dad, please! Listen to me for once!"

Stoick saw her glare at him and silenced himself. He wanted to make things right with his only child. He had to try, he realized.

"The demanding-punching approach should be reserved for another occasion. You need to show Toothless he can trust you. You need to at least find a common ground. Something that let him know that you can be a friend."

Her father stroked his greying bread thoughtfully. "A friend, huh? Like me and Gobber?"

"Great! Exactly! What did you do when you two met?"

Her father responded by scooping her up in a headlock and performed a noogie on her head while exclaimed in joy, "That's my wife you're talking to, you one-legged lout!"

Hanna gasped heavily for air and, once her father released her, stared bewildered at him. "That was NOT what I had in- wait. You met Gobber when he was flirting with mom? He told me you've known each other since you were in training!"

"Actually, we did." Her father blushed uncharacteristically, which surprised her. He looked embarrassed to admit such a secret. "I…always had a strong crush on your mother…I often made my desire to marry her since we were kids."

Hanna felt a wave of sympathy and guilt hit her. To hear her stoic father confess so honestly made her feel so conflicted.

"Say, how you meet that crazy girl, the one Gobber took a shine to?"

Hanna smirked, her eyes darkening.

"HIYAAAH!"

She leapt at him, tackled him and pinned him down with one foot to the chest and spoke a string of hostile Chinese.

"What?" He gawked up at her with confusion.

"I found her when her dragon flew into where I was staying four years ago. She jumped off the back of Zhou, tackled me and demanded who was I and where she is. Took us a while to understand each other."

"Why? She doesn't understand your sarcasm?"

"I didn't understand her Chinese!"

* * *

Father and daughter talked actively on the way back to the village on Toothless's back. Stoick enjoyed the flying and enjoyed spending time with his daughter more.

His child was telling him her big plans for Berk, involving a lot of construction for a dragon-friendly home. "Dragons are very territorial. If you let them live here, they'll defend Berk with their lives."

"Just like us."

"Exactly."

Stoick reached out to touch her shoulder but she moved out of the way. That hurt him. She still doesn't trust him.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "So! ...I'll…see you tonight…I still got other matters…"

"Right…" Hanna said just as nervously. "See ya…dad…"

With that, father and daughter parted with heavy hearts.

"Hey, Hanna!"

Fishlegs was calling for her as he ran up to her.

Hanna folded her arms defensively, frowning. "What do you want, Fishlegs?"

Fishlegs whimpered at the unwelcome sight. But he pressed on. Quite timidly. "I was wondering if…" He held out the Book of Dragons. "…if you wanna update the Book of Dragons with your vast knowledge."

"In ye olde days, you didn't want to even read with me."

"Hanna, please. This a society that favors brawns over brains. I had to survive."

"So did I."

"Then can you remember how hard it was?" He was pleading, begging on his knees. "But we can be friends now. You made it possible. Please…"

Fishlegs was probably the first and most polite Viking to live. He oughta get an award.

A sweet, genuine smile crept onto Hanna's lips without her even knowing.

"Well…"

* * *

Alaric found them sitting together in the hall, writing notes and drawing illustrations together, sitting closely and talking animatedly.

In blind fury, he stormed out and slammed the doors behind him.

* * *

Soon it came the time for the Berserkers to return to their island. Hildr including.

On the docks, the Dragon Riders hugged altogether before Hildr leaves.

"Wait! Hold my chicken." Tuffnut handed Alaric his pet chicken and then run off.

"What is with you and that chicken?" Alaric asked, glaring at the living poultry.

Chicken simply clucked.

Tuffnut ran up to the docks and stopped Hildr before she got onto Boltstriker. The Skrill growled defensively but Tuffnut wasn't fazed. He bravely came up, took her hand…

…and kissed it.

That wasn't the surprise of it.

What was most shocking was Hildr smiling at the gesture.

"What the?"

Even her friends were shocked.

"Wait, _Tuffnut_ is already courting Hildr?"

"How? They only met two seconds."

"What kind of girl would even want to marry into the Thorstons?"

Alaric stared blankly at the scene with Tuffnut's chicken in his hands.

* * *

Later on, the blonde man stalked through town, cutting through the crowd to head for some brutal tree-chopping. He was furious. Angry that Hanna still avoid him. Jealous that Tuffnut is having better luck romancing his woman

Even Gustav had better luck with his crush! All he did was stare at her, blush when she caught him and turn away with a red face. But Kerstin _always_ smiled at his embarrassment.

Hanna was playing _really_ hard to get. Or just ignoring him.

Either way, he was stumped.

"I still don't get it." Fishlegs said. "I mean, _how_ in the name of Bork possess you to do that and make her smile?"

Tuffnut shrugged. "I had to do something before she leaves. I like her ever since I saw her on that Skrill. I mean, how cool is that! Riding a Skrill! A Night Fury is one thing, but she can light herself up!"

"Actually she wears a kind of metal armor that Hanna designed herself to absorb and use the lightning power just like a Skrill."

"Even better!"

Alaric stopped in his tracks, forcing his friends to stop walking behind him. He turned round to them, face creasing so angrily, Ruffnut and Fishlegs took a few steps back.

"You have the manners of a dead fish, why would a nice girl like Hildr even glance your way?" He demanded dangerously low.

Again, Tuffnut shrugged. "She thinks I'm funny."

Alaric growled in frustration.

"Hildr is Hildr. I'm me. We're not perfect, but we're perfect for each other. I only went up to her, be myself and she liked it. No one made me do it. I wanted to. You just gotta be open."

Strangely, those jumble of words made sense to Alaric.

Tuffnut's twin sister elbowed Alaric, nodding her head at something. "Looks like you're not only one having girl trouble."

Alaric looked and saw Snotlout heading to the forge in a proud prance.

Inside the forge, Gobber sang merrily as he brushed and sharped the teeth of a Zippleback, enjoying his new job as Berk's dragon dentist.

 _Well I got my club and I got my mace,_

 _and I love my wife with the ugly face,_

 _I'm a Viking through and through-oo!_

Vipermei was carrying weapons from Vikings to near the fire to be sharpened. She giggled listening to her adoptive father sing like a whistling yak. Her birth father was colder than ice and emotional as rock, same with her mother and brother.

That life was behind her. Now she has a family, a real one.

Blood doesn't make a family.

After going back and forth carrying heavy metal, her skin glistened with sweat. She stopped moving to take a few breaths.

"Oh Mei!"

She grumbled in Chinese and faced the irritating boy smirking and staring lustfully at her.

"Its _Vipermei_ , you idiot _._ "

Snotlout laughed dismissively, as if her insult was a jab. "You're so funny, Mei."

" _Vipermei…_ " She hissed at him. But just like at the feast, he won't back down.

Snotlout continued flirting with the pale-skinned beauty and calling her 'Mei' much to her annoyance.

" **SNOTLOUT!"**

Suddenly, the back of the young man's shirt was seized and he was pulled away from his woman.

"Out! Get out! Out, out, out!"

Gobber dragged the boy out of his shop and even literally kicked him out for good measure.

"Hey, what gives?" Snotlout demanded.

"Stay away from my wee firecracker, ya snotty yak-bladder!"

"What are you talking about? I was only talking to my future wife!"

"You really think I'll let you seduce my new daughter and have you as my son-in-law? I rather have her marry the Boneknapper! Now _get!_ "

Snotlout growled and then stalked off, muttering angrily to himself.

Then a grinning Vipermei appeared beside Gobber. "Thanks, papa." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Gobber smiled. "Don't mention it, dearie."

* * *

Night came.

Hanna and Toothless circled the island for a moonlight flight, and landed outside the hut she shared with her friends, apart from Hildr. Before she led Toothless into his stable along with the sleeping dragons, she was stopped.

"Hanna."

She looked around.

"Dad."

Her father.

On the back of a blue Thunderdrum.

And companied by a Rumblehorn, a feminine purple-pink Thunderdrum and three little Thunderdrums.

"So…you got your dragon."

"Yep. Turns out this Thunderdrum was taking fish for his injured mate and young ones. Meet Snorri, Bing, Bam and Boom."

"And the Rumblehorn?"

"Took one look at him and I felt the connection you were telling me about. Named him Skullcrusher."

"You sound pretty happy."

"Ay, these are magnificent beasts." Stoick laughed joyfully, patting his dragons. He frowned when he heard the off-tune wailing. "Though the little ones could rival the twins."

Hanna smiled. I mean, she actually _smiled!_ Her father found common ground with the dragons- they were just as hardheaded as him. He was actually bonding with dragon versions of himself!

"Well, I'm glad you finally understand what I was trying to teach you. Well, goodnight."

"No!" Stoick jumped Thornado's back and grabbed his daughter by the arm. In defense, Hanna gasped, promoting Toothless to growl. He quickly realized his mistake and released her. His daughter stared at him with confusion as he tumbled on his words. "I mean, uh…wait for…just one moment. I, um, have…"

He was carrying a bag, which he was digging through desperately. Finally, he pulled out a small brown chest with the crest of Berk on it. He handed it out to Hanna, who just stared at it.

"Please don't tell that's Alaric's gift."

"It's not from Alaric. It's from me…from your mother."

Time froze.

"What…"

Hanna felt light-headed, overwhelmed, in disbelief.

"That can't be…"

Stoick moved in closer to her. "Go ahead. Open it."

With shaky hands, she took the chest, making it shake. She held it for a minute until she finally raised one hand to slowly open the lid.

Inside was a single dragon toy. It looked like a cross between a Night Fury and a Deadly Nadder, with four legs, a horn, wings and a tail. Made out of faded blue fabric with a dull cream for the horns, and brown buttons for eyes. It was obviously stitched by hand with visible stitches at its seams. Her name 'Hanna' was stitched in runes on the sides of the toy.

Picking it up, she squinted her eyes when she found the toy oddly familiar…

"I've seen this before…"

"Aye. You did." Her father said softly. "Your mother made them for you when you were just a baby. Scared you half to death. You didn't sleep for a week."

"What?" She was flabbergasted by that piece of information. She looked to Toothless, just as surprised. " _I_ was afraid of dragons?"

The dragon lover was scared of dragons.

How ironic.

"Oh, _terrified_. You loved it at first, but after losing your mother, you suddenly hated it. I locked it up in that chest because I didn't have the heart to throw your mother's gift away. One day when you were 2, we were out fishing and you threw it into the sea."

Hanna could imagine his face when she did that.

Looking at the doll brought a wave of nolgastia on her.

Just like her mother, she loved dragons. But got scared of dragons after losing her mother and tried to follow the tribe's traditions. Then her weirdness kicked in and she started confiding in dragons for the warmth she couldn't get from her own kind.

"How did you find it?"

"A while ago, the chest showed up in a fishing net. Trader Johann got it in trade and contacted me."

So her mother hasn't been in contact with her father.

"I was so little when mom…" _left._ "…you know."

"I know. It was hard for both of us. But I…I took it harder. If I only listen to her once, she would still be here. In my grief and blindness, I ignored you, my only child. I thought I was protecting you but all I did was push you away until you couldn't take it anymore. I was starting to get afraid that I'd forget her. But now…I almost did. I want to say…I just want to say…"

Stoick hesitated. Hanna waited. She silently hoped he won't fall behind his pride.

"…I sorry."

There. He said it.

"I'm so sorry, dear. I'm sorry for everything."

He apologized for the years of neglect, pain, pushing, everything. Hanna stared at her father, and then glanced to her toy. Then she walked up to her father, laying one hand on his bulky arm.

"Thanks, daddy." And then she leaned up, kissing his hairy cheek.

He stilled, just long enough for her lean down but he grabbed her hand before she walked away.

His hard face was soft with emotion. " _Thank you_ for giving me another chance."

Father and daughter parted on good terms after that. Stoick went off to do some chiefing with the help of his trusty dragons and Hanna, after getting Toothless into his stable, went to bed, fast asleep in her dragon toy in hand.


	10. Terrible Training, Romantic Flying

**Disclaimer:** I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. All credits go to Dreamworks.

Warning: Ratings will go up in future chapters. Up as in _steamy_ and more.

* * *

"Welcome to Dragon Training."

The doors into the arena sway opened. Hanna, Vipermei, Heather and Brant were leaning coolly against the wall with their dragons standing powerfully alongside them.

The young warriors of Berk walked in. The arena held a different atmosphere, new lessons and experiences to be learnt.

Alaric breathed in and out. He took the opportunity determinedly and focused on it. "No turning back."

"Let's do this!" Snotlout cried.

His fellow Vikings, apart from Alaric, cheered.

"Remember, you're not gonna learn dragon slaying." Brant reminded, noting the Vikingish looks on their faces.

"Are we still able to get scars?" Tuffnut

"If you don't use the proper method, then yes." Heather answered.

"Awesome!"

"Ok, guys," Hanna announced, stepping forward. "I am not letting any of you guys ride any dragons until you know how to properly approach one!" She walked across them like a coronel addressing his soldiers. Alaric listened to her every word. "You are the example of the new age. The next generation of Vikings."

She walked back to her friend and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed. With a smirk, she nodded to her friends. They smirked right back.

Their smirks were so wicked they scared the warriors of Berk.

"Lesson 1: how to approach a dragon."

The dragons started slowly moved towards the Vikings, as predators stalking the prey.

"Uh…Hanna, Mei?" Snotlout backed away along with his friends, scared of the stalking Dragons. "Aren't you gonna teach us first?"

"In the wise words of our teacher," Hanna smirked, and then performed a convincing accent. " _I believe in learning on the job!_ "

"Attack!" Vipermei shouted.

The dragons pounced.

The young Vikings screamed and scattered in the matter of scared chickens. The dragons chased them in and around the arena, having fun in teasing them.

"YOU'RE CRAZY!" Snotlout yelled with Zhou on his tail.

"Thank you!" Vipermei replied.

"Alright, what is the first you do when facing a dragon as a Viking?" Hanna questioned.

"Make sure you have a weapon!" Alaric answered immediately, agilely dodging Sea-King.

"Good! But as a rider, you do the opposite, which is…"

"Drop your weapons!" Gustav cried, abruptly dropped his oversized axe and shield.

Suddenly he went rigid as he faced the deadliest of all dragons.

The Night Fury.

"Gustav, stay calm." Hanna instructed. "Hold out your hand, palm out and wait for him to come to you."

Gustav whimpered but nonetheless, he held out his shaking hand and waited for whatever comes next. He tried to be brave but he couldn't help the fear, especially with the twins cheering for Toothless to eat him.

He waited for the teeth.

His eyes flew open when he felt, not sharp teeth piercing his hand, but warm scales vibrating under his cold, sweaty skin. He looked, surprised to find Toothless's forehead nuzzling his palm. With this view, Gustav started to laugh.

"Ha! That's easy." Snotlout bragged. But when he _not-so-gently_ slapped his hand on Loptr, the Changewing growled and spited acid at the burly Viking, making him scream.

"Next!" Vipermei cried with a laugh dancing in her voice.

Brant threw three buckets of fish to the learning Vikings.

"Lesson 2: how to feed a dragon."

Gustav quickly scooped up two and carefully walked toward Toothless, feeling more confident. The Night Fury ate the fish from Gustav with no problem.

Fishlegs offered a whole bucket in surrender to Zhou and fainted once the Boneknapper ate everything.

Meanwhile, Snotlout selfishly gorged himself with salmon instead of offering it.

"Snotlout, that's for the dragons!" Alaric scolded.

"So what?" Snotlout mocked with his mouth disgustedly full with fish. "It's only a-" Then he stopped, suddenly gasping as some of the salmon got stuck in his throat. He held his neck and gestured desperately for Alaric to help him. The blonde smirked in amusement before swinging his fist into Snotlout's stomach, the powerful punch forcing the blocking fish bits out of his mouth. "…few!"

"That was hilarious! Do it again!" Vipermei crackled.

Twins dug through the same bucket before pulling out a black and yellow striped eel together and offered it to Loptr and Sea-King.

However, the Changewing and Scauldon, along with every other dragon within the arena, roared in fear and ran to the other side of the arena, cowering scared which confused the Vikings and alarmed the Riders.

"Gimme that!" Hanna snatched the slimy eel from the twins and handed it to Heather. "Get this to Torch."

"On it." Heather nodded and ran out fast.

"Dragons are scared of eels?" Ruffnut gasped.

"You heard of Eel Pox, right? Well, eels with its poisonous blood does the same thing to dragons, only with more dangerous effects. Apart from Typhoomerangs, they eat eel to regain their fire and is among the few species that have that immunity."

"Wow, fascinating…" Fishlegs breathed. "We gotta put this in the Book of Dragons."

Then Brant carried in and dropped a heavy wooden chest.

"And finally…"

Hanna knelt and opened the chest filled with…

"Terrible Terrors? _That's_ your final lesson?" Snotlout accused.

"Terrible Terrors are as compact as cats. They'll do as your first assignment before you tackle the big boys." The beautiful woman explained. Her light-green Terrible Terror, Sharpshot, sat on her shoulder.

"What's wrong, Snotlout, still scared of dragons?" Fishlegs teased.

"No!" Snotlout hotly defended. "My dragon gonna run your dragon down!"

"After your performance today, I don't think that's likely."

"Why you smart ass-!"

"Guys, this is not a competition!" Hanna shouted.

"Oh _au contraire,_ young lady, they say 'competition is the essence of life'." Tuffnut said unusually wisely.

"Really?" Hanna dismissed.

"He's got a point. It brings excitement to our lives." Gustav said.

"Seriously?"

"Don't bother arguing with them, Hanna, just give them their Terrors." Brant advised.

"Whatever, just remember what I taught you and raise these dragons until I decide when you can ride dragons bigger than you."

Snotlout pumped his fists. "Alright! You better strap on your helmets cause this guy right here…" He reached down to grab a mini-dragon. "…is bringing on the pain!" But then a purple Terrible Terror chomped down on his arm before he could grab one. "OOWWW!"

"Awe, he likes you." Vipermei mocked.

"Guess I'll take this one." He said, wincing in pain, eyes watering. "Bring the pain!"

One by one, the Terrible Terrors were picked. Alaric chose an aqua-green one, Fishlegs took an orange one, the twins had taken two yellow ones and Gustav picked a blue one.

"Can I keep him? Like for real?" Gustav begged as his dragon licked his face and lovingly nuzzled him.

Hanna shrugged, smiling. "Why not?"

* * *

Later on, Hanna took a walk down memory lane through the woods. The thick forest was her special place, her secret world. It was where she played by herself, where she goes to vent her frustrations, where first met Toothless, where she nursed him back to full health and fixed his wing.

As much she loved it so much, she had to leave.

Toothless followed her as she cut through the village.

The Village filled with Vikings and Dragons.

She smiled, passing Bucket and Mulch carrying fish with the help of their shared Zippleback, Gobber yelling at a very lazy Hotburple he named Grump, and her father yelling out orders with the help of his dragons.

Without noticing it, she passed Alaric, who focused all of his attention on her.

She decided to fly on Toothless since the old woman's hut was perched up high and over a cliff. Gothi had adopted not one but _a whole_ flock of Terrible Terrors! She petted whatever one she could get her hands on lovingly.

"Hi, Hanna." Kerstin greeted with a dark-green Terrible Terror on her shoulder.

Gothi's apprentice was a nice girl, kinda shy and had a mystical air to her. Her rich red hair was in long and loosely braided pigtails and her common blue eyes were almost curtained by square bangs like Alaric used to have. She had worn a brown tunic with long wide sleeves and a hood, a red leather belt around her waist, cream armwarmers on her arms, navy leggings, and cream furred boots.

"Hey, there." Hanna got off her dragon and leaned in to Kerstin's small one. "Who's this little guy?"

Kerstin stroked her dark-green Terrible Terror and got a nuzzle in return. "This is Ratatoskr." (after the legendary squirrel who runs up and down the world tree Yggdrasil to carry messages between the Veðrfölnir, the hawk)

"Gothi wanted to see me?"

"Yeah."

Gothi gently shook her dragons off, picked up her staff and wrote on the floor. Kerstin looked over Gothi's shoulder, waiting to interpret the runes. At least Gobber wasn't there to mess up on his translation and get smacked with Gothi's staff though it was entertaining.

"She says…" Kerstin started translating.

Hanna waited.

"…You have a great destiny ahead of you."

What?

"Has she been eating Gobber's Yak Noodle Stew again?"

"Yes she has and it was delicious, according to her. She says you still have more growing up to do."

"I'm already grown up."

"She doesn't think so. She says you're still a girl. Your unwillingness to accept your past, your anger, your pain, your sadness, they're all the reason you've been unable to learn Dragonese."

How did she know that?

Because she was Gothi.

"But I'm teaching everyone on this cursed island how to live in peace with dragons! Isn't that enough?"

"She says no."

"I think I like it better when Gobber's here to mistranslate."

"Hanna, Gothi states it's the next step to completing your journey. Face your fears and fly."

* * *

Face her fears and fly?

Hanna pondered over Gothi's words of wisdom, walking around in her forest.

She wasn't that little girl anymore. She can't go back to that girl. She can't be weak, helpless, vulnerable again.

What was there to face?

She faced Dagur, her father, Mildew, old bullies and crush…

"Hanna."

Speaking of her old crush…

Alaric was standing among the trees, looking at her. She froze on the spot.

"Alaric."

"Well, um…" Alaric stumbled out ( _since when does Alaric Hofferson stumbled over his words?_ ), and then opened his arms anxiously. "What do you think?"

"Um…What do I think of what exactly?"

"My dragon's stealth skills."

"I don't see him anywhere."

"Not everywhere." Alaric grinned, pointing up at her.

She glanced up and saw his aqua-green Terrible Terror on her head, without her even noticing him.

"Wow…he's good." She took her eyes off the dragon for one minute to glance at Alaric and when she glanced back, the Terrible Terror was gone.

And currently on Toothless's head.

" _Really_ good."

"Sneaky." Alaric called and the named dragon flew into his arms.

"Not even a day and you've already trained him."

"Yeah, turns out these guys are nicer when we're not trying to kill them."

"How are the others?"

"Snotlout named his's Pain because it kept biting him. Took Gobber a whole afternoon to pry Pain off his left leg. Fishlegs called his's Iggy and taught it to fetch anything. The twins named theirs Butt and Head and all they do is fly into each other. Gustav called his's Licker, because, well, its keeps licking him."

Hanna chortled at that.

"Look, Hanna," Alaric blushed ( _BLUSHED!_ ), rubbing the back of his head. "I, uh, I…I just wanted to say congratulations on ending the war between dragons and Vikings. Everything."

She shrugged her bare shoulders. "It's not officially over. Some people are still stubborn." _And I'm apparently one of them._

She looked at him, noticing his scars from the night he and the other youngsters found her. The ones that didn't look like they were made from weapons. "I gotta ask you, how did you get the scars on your face?"

He touched his cheek as if he was caught red-handed and flushed in embarrassment. "I got them from…wrestling with dragons in an effort to ride them. You said you'll marry, or at least, give me a chance if I tame a dragon, ride it and not kill it. Hanna, I really want you to give me a chance. I have feelings for you ever since we were kids. I thought I haven't been the best of suitors and I'm not the best of expressing my _feelings_ , but I only wanted to be the best for you. To be strong, fully capable of protecting you. I only want to be chief if it means I have you by my side."

At first, she had nothing to say to that. She knew he was persistent in making her his wife. She knew she had a crush on him growing up. But she never knew how deep his feelings for her were. He didn't have lust for, even though he didn't say he love her. But by the sound of it, it sounded like he had a crush on her just as much as she did.

"Well…"

She wasn't sure want to make of her romantic feelings for him. But she did admire his determination and the new gentle approach he took towards her. Maybe he deserves some slack…

"If you're that persistent for me…" She walked over to him until she was touching noses on her tippy toes. Alaric's breath hitched. He blushed once again. "I guess I should give you some slack."

Then she swiftly pulled away, smirking. "Follow me."

He watched her waltz off with a _suggestive_ sway of her hips, a grin widening. He followed her over to Toothless but the look on the black dragon's face clearly said: _no way in Hel I want that murderous bully on me!_

"Come on, buddy. We're only giving him a flight." Hanna said, getting onto the saddle.

Alaric gingerly hoisted himself up and behind her. He didn't grab hold of anything. He hands waved over Hanna's lower half, unsure to touch or not. He wanted to touch her **so much** but he also wanted to be a gentleman, which is hard for a Viking.

Hanna, oblivious to his dilemma, patted her dragon. "Toothless, fly. Gently," On instant, Toothless opened his wings and crouched low, ready to take off. Pleased with herself, she turned to the boy behind her smiling. "See? Nothing to worry about."

She didn't notice that the Night Fury had a look of mischief to him.

Without warning and not one bit gently, Toothless shot up to the sky fast like lightning, causing Hanna to yell out in surprise and Alaric to scream in terror. He threw manners into the wind and grabbed onto Hanna.

"WHOA! Toothless, what is wrong with you? Bad dragon!" Hanna shouted. Just as Toothless decided to fly more steadily, she turned around with a nervous grin. Meanwhile, Toothless leaned dangerously right. "Sorry, he's not usually like this. Well, he does an attitude- oh no."

It was that moment where she noticed her naughty dragon decided to dive.

Alaric screamed again as Toothless dived straight down into the ocean. He dived through the waves and skipped along the water.

"Toothless, what are you doing? We need him to like you! I get it you don't like him but is the joy ride ready necessary? Have you been taking tips from Vipermei?"

Toothless flew high up again and started spinning. "And now he's spinning. Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile!"

Alaric hugged Hanna more desperately, burying his face in her back, absolutely terrified.

"Alright buddy, I think you scared him enough."

Toothless smirked in sweet satisfaction and opened his wings, causing the dragon to hover gently.

Alaric peeped once he felt the spinning stop. Realizing the joyride was finally over, he opened his eyes. And he met with a beautiful sight. They were gliding through the clouds at an unimaginable height that no known man had ever achieved of reaching The sun was setting, the sky changing from bright blue to warm mixtures of pink and orange.

With childlike wonder, he ran his hand through the flying fluff. He never felt so calm, so at peace, a sensation unknown to his kind. He stretched his arms above his head and leaned back.

The warmth turned to cold as night came but that didn't stop the flight. They had the dreamlike chance to fly across the Aurora Borealis.

Alaric gasped as they flew over Berk, the height making it an unbelievable sight. He glanced to Hanna, smiling softly. He went and wrapped his arms around her waist, snuggling against her with his chin on her shoulder. She blushed at the action and that she didn't expect such a gesture from him.

He sighed blissfully. "Alright, I'll admit it. It's…amazing." He patted Toothless as far as he could reach the head. "He's amazing."

"See? they're not so bad after all." Hanna said. Then she smirked. "Check this out."

And the romance died the moment Hanna fell off her dragon

" _ **HANNA!"**_

Before she crash-landed, she opened her wings and hovered in the air, just below Toothless and Alaric.

"Imagine what we could do on the backs of dragons!"

"I prefer it with you back on your dragon!"

She laughed, she dipped and twirled and flew and landed perfectly on her foot/metal leg, back where they started. Toothless landed down just after her.

"That was fun, wasn't it?"

Her grin faltered as she saw Alaric approach her, his usual hard façade replaced with a soft gaze.

Just as she thought he was going to blush and stammer again, his fist came flying and punched her on the arm.

"Ow! What the Hel?"

"That's for leaving."

Then he punched her other arm.

"Ow!"

She rubbed both arms and glared at him.

"That's for driving me crazy."

Then he poked her forehead.

"Ow!"

"That's for scaring me."

She pouted at him for the pain he caused. For a guy who wanted her, he sure-

Then he grabbed her shoulder, pulled her in and kissed her cheek. She froze in shock. The kiss was chaste, sweet, gentle, totally un-Vikingish.

Now he was blushing.

"That's…for everything else." He said before walking away, leaving her alone in her state.

She touched her cheek, a smile slowly forming. "Wow."

Toothless came up behind her, looking at her teasingly.

Hanna jumped, her face burning red. "Wha-wha are you looking at?"


	11. Gem of a Different Color

**Disclaimer:** I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. All credits go to Dreamworks.

Sorry for the long wait. Writer's block. Here's a chapter!

* * *

Just as things were going so well, one idiot decided to wreck it.

And it wasn't a cranky old man.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Snotlout ran up to his fellow warriors, coming from the docks with a bag thrown over his shoulder, looking heavy and…

…glowing?

"Snotlout, is your bag…glowing?" Fishlegs asked, blinking in disbelief.

Snotlout stuck his hand in his bag, smirking with unhidden glee. He pulled out…

"Behold!"

…A precious gem the size of his whole big hand, glowing with everchanging colors. A beautiful, dazzling object to marvel.

His friends admired it. "Whoa…"

"What is it?" Tuffnut asked.

"My dad said these are Stones of Good Fortune. There's an island full of them!"

"Stones of Good Fortune?" Gustav gasped.

"Gobber once told me about these!" Fishlegs explained. "He said his great uncle's wife's brother was mute until he found one and wouldn't shut up after that! It possesses the power to bless whoever owns it with good fortune."

"Oh yeah! I'm gonna make a fortune out of these and Gobber will be begging me to marry Mei!"

"Snotlout, do you honestly believe Gobber will trade his adopted daughter for a stone?" Alaric challenged with an unimpressed face.

"Correction, a Stone of Good Fortune! And yeah he will!"

The blonde scoffed.

Snotlout frowned, but then he formed a teasing grin. "I'll give you one for a good price. You'll need _all_ the fortune you need when you're courting Hanna. Heh-he!"

Alaric scowled, crossing his arms. "Hanna and I are just friends. That's good enough for me."

 _For the meantime._

Snotlout snorted. "Whatever."

Their Terrible Terrors, Pain and Sneaky, peered at the gem from their representative perches on shoulders, and suddenly recoiled, hissing like alarmed cats.

And their owners didn't notice.

* * *

Alaric had _finally_ got some quality time with Hanna. Since he trained his Terrible Terror so well and survived a joyride by Toothless, the auburn-haired beauty decided to treat him to lunch, just the two of them (their dragons tagging along), in the great hall.

Practically a date!

Well, almost.

Alaric wanted to be the man of her dreams, not her nightmares. He had to take it slow and easy, be her friend first, throw in a few bold kisses on the cheeks and then strike!

He had just made Hanna laugh at his story of the time he was axe-throwing in the woods at night and surprised Silent Sven when the twins and Fishlegs entered through the huge doors, Tuffnut showing off his stone of good fortune which he traded from Snotlout.

Hanna froze when she looked their way, staring at Tuffnut's stone.

Alaric, not pleased with her sudden change, turned to the three, frowning. "Don't tell me you bought one of Snotlout's 'lucky gems.'"

"Ok, I won't. But I did get a lifetime of good luck." Tuffnut said before butting heads with his sister. As if by luck itself, Ruffnut immediately fell down, promoting her victorious brother to do a victory dance.

Alaric rolled his eyes, but then he saw something weird about the egg. "Wait. Is it me or this stone of good fortune moving?"

Sure enough, something inside the stone started moving.

Ruffnut got back up and peered. "Ew…"

"Looks like a newt." Tuffnut noted.

"Uh, guys? I don't think this is a Stone of Good Fortune." Fishlegs said with an uneasy voice.

"Then what is it?"

"A Changewing egg!" Hanna suddenly cried out, standing up and reaching out. "Give it over!"

"Over my cold, dead body." Tuffnut said, shielding the gem and tried to ran before getting grabbed by Alaric.

"Gladly." Loverboy had such a dark look in his eyes.

"Ok, ok! Here you go!" Tuffnut threw his gem to Hanna who caught it. "No stone of good fortune is worth the pain!"

"This isn't a stone of good fortune. It's a Changewing egg!"

Everyone gasped.

"Changewing? Like Loptr? Heather's dragon?" Tuffnut asked.

"Spits burning acid, blend in with its surroundings, extremely territorial and almost untrainable?" Ruffnut added.

"Unfortunately, yes." Hanna answered grimly.

"But if this is an egg and not a stone of good fortune, how did Gobber's mute relative found his voice?"

"By meeting the egg's angry dragon mother."

"Changewings are one of the deadliest species of dragons." Fishlegs whimpered out.

"Yes! Dragons have eggs based on their species, abilities and classes. Because Changewings can blend in with their surroundings and spit acid, their eggs glow colors and look like gems. Just like Gronckle eggs look like rocks. Now where's the big dummy you got the 'gem' from?"

* * *

'The big dummy' rode up to Gobber's shop with two carts of livestock, weapons, cutlery, pots, jewelry, anything that was valuable.

Gobber had just came out, bewildered of what he found waiting outside. "What in Thor's skivvies…? What did you do, lad, raid 10 villages?"

Snotlout puffed out his chest proudly while smirking. "Gobber, behold my bride price!"

Gobber, despite feeling impressed by the large stock, scoffed. "I'll see what my little firecracker answers to this." He turned and yelled inside. "Vipermei! The man of your nightmares is here!"

After a few seconds, the Chinese girl came out with an annoyed look on her face which dropped when she saw not the carts, but the 'gem' in Snotlout's hand.

"You likey, May-ee?" Snotlout held out the gem more, thinking he was teasing her.

"A stone of good fortune…" Gobber stared at Snotlout's glittering stone in awe. "My great uncle's wife's mute brother once told me about 'em!"

"I'll share it with you, _if_ I mar-"

 _SWISH!_

Suddenly, the gem was snatched swiftly out of his hand.

"Hey! You gotta marry me first before you can have it!"

He lunged but Vipermei simply kicked him in the stomach, then karate-chopped his back, making him drop, groaning in pain.

Gobber laughed with delight and pride. "That's my girl!"

"Snotlout, did you find these things in a nest in trees?" Vipermei asked.

"Yeah…"

Then he got a kick to the head.

"Snotlout, you moron! Those aren't stones of good fortune! They're Changewing eggs!"

"Changewing…eggs…?"

"Hang on a minute, those aren't stones of good fortune! These are Changewing eggs! I always get those two mixed up." Gobber noted.

"No kidding, pa." Vipermei said dryly.

* * *

Just as Hanna was about to go out of the great hall to find her idiot cousin, her best friend entered, egg in hand.

"Where's Snotlout?"

"I knocked him out. Easily."

The pair giggled.

Fishlegs brought in the Book of Dragons, opened it and found, to everyone's surprise, no illustrations of Changewings.

"Where are the drawings?" Alaric asked.

"There are none." Fishlegs said.

"I guess you can't draw what you can't see." Hanna noted with a shrug. "Or live long enough to get a good look."

And the doors threw open with a roaring bang, Heather storming in holding an egg. She looked just as angry as a Changewing mother about the theft.

"Look what Mrs. Larson has!"

Brant followed in after her, him too with an egg. "And I found Bucket with this!"

"How many eggs did Snotlout took anyway?" Hanna asked, turning to the Vikings.

"At least a bag full." Fishlegs said.

"That could be dozens!" Brant exclaimed.

ROAR!

A furious roar ripped through the air, followed by screams and yells and more roars.

The Vikings and Riders rushed outside to find the village in havoc. People running around in terror, brave Vikings throwing weapons everywhere and their dragons sprouting fire blasts…and Changewings tearing homes apart, spitting fire and changing its coats.

The angry mothers are here.

"Oh, this is bad." Hanna moaned, rubbing her face. "Dragon mothers are much more dangerous than wild dragons!"

"How?" Gustav questioned.

"Imagine dragon versions of Stoick."

Fishlegs shivered. "Oh, that is dangerous."

"They're gonna burn Berk to the ground!" Alaric exclaimed.

"Sounds fair to me." Heather retorted.

"You're not helping, Heather!"

"I'm not sure I even want to!"

Hanna growled. "Alright! Vipermei, you get out from Snotlout where he sold the rest of the eggs to."

Vipermei grinned evilly as she rubbed her hands and ran off.

"We'll give the rest back to the moms. And Heather, please use your Changewing skills to reason with them."

Heather 'hmphed'.

* * *

The eggs were returned to their mothers and Heather managed to calm them down.

After a heated battle.

"Glad that's over." Brant had said, gasping after an exhausting fight.

The only good thing that came out of this mess was that everyone saw how the dragons defended Berk against the Changewings. How truly protective they are of their home, very beneficial.

At the end of the day, all heads turned to glare at Snotlout. Who tried to protest his innocence.

"What? It was my dad's fault! He told me they were Stones of Good Fortune!"

No one cared about that.

Although Vipermei did put a firecracker in Spitelout's trousers for extra measure.


	12. When Lightning Strikes

**Disclaimer:** I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. All credits go to Dreamworks.

* * *

Just as things were going so well, one idiot decided to wreck it.

This time, a cranky old man did cause it.

* * *

Because of Snotlout, the village had to be rebuilt.

Yet with the Dragon Riders (mostly Hanna), Berk became more Dragon-friendly, with perches, stables in the caves, eat-you-can-eat and cleaning stations, landing areas, all for the dragons.

Those productive days of work brought Hanna and her father closer together, working side by side to make Berk a better place, for both dragons and Vikings.

Father and daughter, along with Gobber and Vipermei, celebrated their success over dinner when they heard loud rumbling coming from outside, followed by terrified roars and screams.

Toothless jumped in fright and took refuge in Hanna's old room. The fathers and daughters rushed outside to find a thunderous sight. Lightning striking everywhere, especially on the dragon perches.

"Whoa! Look at this storm!" Vipermei gasped.

"The lightning's hitting everywhere." Hanna commented.

"It doesn't usually strike here." Stoick noticed.

"Lei Gong must be mad at Snotlout for the egg snatching." Vipermei said, making the three others look to her, confused. "Lei Gong is the god of thunder back in China. He punishes mortals guilty of secret crimes and evil spirits, striking them with thunder made by his drum, mallet and chisel!"

"We're in Berk, not China, Mei." Gobber told, using her nickname. From him, it was sweet and affectionate. She didn't mind him calling her Mei. "We have Thor. You know, the only other time I ever remember lightning striking Berk was…"

Then Stoick and Gobber spoke together grimly. "Barnstat."

Their daughters shared an equal look of puzzlement. "Barn-who?"

"Jürgen Barnstat, drifter, sailed into town." Stoick explained. "He was stealing from widows and old men."

"To punish him. Thor gave him a lightning bolt right to his helmet when he was fixing the mast on his ship to make his escape." Gobber pointed inside where a badly charred helmet hung on the wall.

"By the time Thor was finished with him, our whole fleet was on fire."

"We shipped him off the island and Thor hasn't hit the village since."

"Threw him off the island? Pretty harsh…" Hanna murmured before gasping in surprise at a loud clap of thunder, followed by lightning bolts striking houses, setting them on fire.

"Gobber, organize a Bucket brigade. I'm going up to the Great Hall." Stoick ordered, then ran off to the hall.

Another stroke of lightning came thundering, making Toothless jumped up in fright. Like a scaredy cat, he yelped and ran off.

"Toothless!" Hanna cried as she chased after her dragon.

She followed his swinging tail throughout the burning village. Some were trying to throw buckets of water one by one, until Stoick came up and threw the whole trough effortlessly, and even the dragons were dropping down carts of water.

"Toothless!" Hanna kept looking for Toothless but he was nowhere in sight.

"Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

"I've always liked Thor."

Hanna turned, looked up and saw, on a nearby roof, Tuffnut whooping for joy and Ruffnut grinning with devilish delight, watching the village burn to the ground.

Hanna only gave them a blank look. "Seriously?"

"Seriously yes! Boltstriker would LOVE this!" Ruffnut exclaimed.

"And I would _love_ to see Hildr…" Tuffnut said dreamily.

Heather, Brant, and Vipermei were already on their dragons, trying to help in the chaos while Fishlegs and Snotlout came running down the steps.

"Man, I love these storms!" Snotlout called out, grinning like a child. "I really hope it rains! When it does, I cancel bath night and just stand outside with nothing but a sponge and a bar of soap!"

" _We know!_ The village has had meetings about it." Fishlegs reminded bitterly, remembering the sight of Snotlout's rain-shower night all too much.

"And nightmares, by the sound of it." Vipermei commented after she overheard the boys.

"You likey to see me nakey?" Snotlout swayed his hips suggestively her way.

And she recoiled. "I've seen butchered pigs looking better naked."

No noticed one bolt of lightning hitting a metal perch that passed onto a house and exploded, all too close to-

"Hanna!"

Alaric tackled her, saving her from the explosion. They rolled in the dirt and ended up stopping with Alaric on top of Hanna. They stared into each other's eyes, unsure of how to react. Then Hanna gave a nervous grin and Alaric immediately got off her, then helped her up.

"Thanks."

They shared a genuine smile until more thunder rudely interrupted them. Alaric put his arms over her to shield her.

"I need to find Toothless!

"I just saw him by the Great Hall." Heather said.

"Take me there!" Hanna ran away from Alaric and got onto Loptr as they flew off.

Toothless was hopping all over the place, desperately trying to escape the lightning. In his running, he ended up at the great Hall, where the Vikings were resting and complaining.

"So much lightning! It's like we're under siege!" Bucket cried, clutching his head.

"Thor is mighty angry at us!" Mulch exclaimed.

"Yes, but why?" Gobber asked.

Lightning struck violently again. This time, it illuminated the sight of Toothless sitting on a perch beside the hall, roaring at the sky, as if he was telling Thor to knock it off. Then the black dragon jumped off just before a bolt hit the perch, lighting it up with sparks. He jumped catlike from one perch to the next, each time followed by Thor's thunderbolts.

"Look! The lightning is following him!"

"Toothless!"

Hanna jumped off Loptr just as Toothless leapt from more lightning. His rider flung herself at his head and begun to sooth him with rubs.

"Its ok, buddy."

"Did you all see that?" Mildew cried out, already getting a crowd by just complaining. "Don't you all understand? Thor is angry at all of us…because of him!"

He pointed his staff straight at Toothless.

"Oh gods." Hanna moaned.

"Really, Mildew?" Heather questioned with annoyance at the obnoxious old man.

He wouldn't stop ranting, "As you all know, the Night Fury is the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself! We let him live among us and now we will all pay the price!"

"He doesn't give up, does he?" Brant said.

"The lightning struck right at the dragon. Right at the dragon! A lighting storm the likes of which we've never had!"

Unfortunately, his ranting had gotten gestures and words of agreements from the crowd.

"There is only one thing for us to do… banish the Night Fury!"

"What? Hanna gasped. "That's ridiculous!"

"It's the only way. Thor is angry at us because of the Night Fury. You all saw it!"

"You can't do that!" Heather yelled out.

"If we don't act now, need I remind you of Barnstat? _**Get rid of the dragon!**_ "

The crowd turned into a mob in an instant and begun advancing towards the pair. Hanna hugged her dragon's head as he growled in defense. His throat released deep groans, his mouth opened, the inside glowing bright purple…

Then Alaric swooped in, axe in hand, making the mob back off with just a burning look.

"Stay away from my cousin!"

Snotlout threw himself in front of his cousin, using himself as a shield for her and her dragon.

"Back! Back! All of you!" Stoick shouted. Then he spoke more calmly. "I know you're afraid, but this isn't how we do things on Berk! These dragons are not the beasts we once thought they were. They're part of us now."

"Not this one! Not anymore." Mildew protested. "Open your eyes, Stoick. It's the only solution and you know it. It worked with Barnstat and it'll work with Toothless."

"Oh please." Brant sighed with his eyes rolling. "He just wants an excuse to reignite the dragon war. More blood and glory for him."

"That's not hard." Heather commented. "Vikings are unreasonable. They just want an excuse to attack anything. Just look at the doubles and Mei's tormenter."

"Dad, It's probably just a misunderstanding!" Hanna spoke out, rubbing Toothless' head, trying to calm him down. "The lightning spooked him! He hates getting caught off guard."

Snotlout couldn't resist the temptation to mock. "Awww, is the wittle dragy-waggy scared? Ha! Some unholy offspring of lightning and death."

Toothless responded with a roar that blew Snotlout away screaming.

"Easy, dear." Stoick soothed softly. "Remember, Berk is still for people."

"Yeah, Vikings before dragons." Gobber said. Just beside him and his daughter, Zhou gave him a hurt look. "Yeah, I said it, dragon. Deal with it."

"Not helping, Pa." Vipermei snapped.

"I meant that the village is still adjusting to all these new changes you brought in."

"So what? Are you really gonna banish Toothless just to please a bunch of narrow-minded mutton heads? Have you all forgotten what Toothless and I have done for this village? For the _entire_ _ **Archipelago?!"**_

Hanna was outraged, totally outraged. Call her dramatic, but she was still adjusting life back on Berk, home to the most stubborn species on the flat known world, and still distrustful to the ones who hurt her in the past.

"Han-"

"If Toothless goes, so do I!"

"You can't!" Stoick cried. His daughter _can't_ leave! Not when they were making such great progress…

"Toothless can't fly without me and I can't live without him! He's my best friend. My _first friend._ 6 years ago, I didn't have to anyone talk to. I was too different. But Toothless was just as different as me. He changed my life, gave me a reason to live. And I am not letting some cranky old crybaby tear me and him apart."

Her father went silent. He knew the dragon was special to her but he never knew how much she loved him until now. About as much to leave together for the second time.

And he can't let her walk away again.

"There must be another way…" He said under his breath. He turned to the crowd. "You're right, all of you. I believe Thor is angry…but I don't believe he's angry at Toothless."

"Well then who do you suppose he's angry at?" Mildew spat.

"I don't know how Thor's mind works, Mildew, but we will find a way to sooth his anger."

"We'll sooth his anger by banishing the Night Fury!"

 _ **WHACK!**_

"Ow!" Mildew yelped as a hard force stroked down on his head. He rubbed the sore spot and glared at whoever dare to strike him. "Blasted woman!"

Gothi glared right back, her beady eyes sending shivers through his bony body.

"I heard Gothi turned him five times when they were young. He never got over it." Snotlout hissed to the twins, making the three of them snicker. Vipermei overheard and snickered as well.

Gothi was accompanied by Gustav and Kerstin. She started writing in the dirt and the two kids with her begun translating.

"Gothi says banishing an innocent won't solve anything." Kerstin said.

"Then what will? Why is Thor angry tonight?" Stoick asked.

"The reason is beyond her power."

"What does that mean?" Gobber questioned.

"She doesn't know why." Gustav stated as Gothi shrugged.

Unbelivable.

Even Gothi doesn't know why Thor is mad.

"Maybe we can ease his anger with an offering." Stoick suggested. "One that isn't shipping Toothless off the island!"

Mildew huffed.

"Thor tore a hole in the great hall. Maybe he's hungry, I know I am." Tuffnut called out.

"In the past, I know Thor's enjoyed a sacrifice or two." Fishlegs mentioned.

"Let's sacrifice Tuffnut." Ruffnut grinned, sticking a thumb over her shoulder.

Beside her, her brother stared at her before nonchalantly folded his arms. "Okay! What time should I be there? There better be fire involved."

"No one's going to be sacrificed!" Stoick yelled.

"Not yet anyway." Snotlout snickered.

"Actually, I think getting one of the twins out will be beneficial." Gobber said.

"I had a great-aunt who was cursed by Odin once." Alaric spoke out. "She had to pay tribute to him by sailing to the end of the earth."

"Let's do that to the dragon and its girl!" Mildew cried.

"Shut up or I'll have you sent to the edge of the earth." Stoick growled.

"Did it work?" Hanna asked just for the heck of it.

Astrid shrugged. "I don't know. I guess she couldn't find it because she kept showing up from the opposite direction."

Then Snotlout wasted no time in showing off, flexing his muscular arms. "If I were Thor, I would want a giant statue. Of myself, Snotlout, as Thor."

"You do know that we're trying to make him happy, right?" Alaric frowned, unimpressed.

"Exactly!" Snotlout proceeded to kiss his biceps.

Vipermei rolled her eyes at Snotlout's lousy demonstration. "At least back in China, we know why Lei Gong is angry. What's the matter with Thor?"

"I don't know, but I have to agree with de old fart. Thor hasn't hit us 'til Toothless came along." Gobber pointed out.

"But Toothless was here long _before_ tonight!" Hanna exclaimed, her sanity and patience cutting shorter by the second. "Why now? We just put up the perches!"

Then she paused. A realization dawned on her.

The reason of the problem!

"That's it! Thor isn't angry at Toothless! It's the metal of the perches! Toothless was on the perches, that's why the lighting is chasing him!

"Oh, bah!" Mildew scoffed. "Have you ever heard anything so insane?"

"Of course it's insane. I figured it out. It's the _metal_. The lightning is hitting the metal. Just think, we never had a lightning storm like this until we put up those perches, right? And they're all made of metal!"

"Rubbish!"

"You could get rid of Toothless, you could throw him off the edge of the world, but it's not going to stop this lighting from destroying Berk. But you don't care about that, do you, Mildew?"

Once she put Mildew on the spot, all eyes were on him and he suddenly went beet red.

"You don't care about that the village is under siege by Thor at all. You just want to go back to senseless killing of innocent dragons just to satisfy your greed. You don't care how it affects us all, whatever decision we make, you only want to bring back the 300-year dragon war for yourself! I may not trust Berk as far as I can throw them yet after what I went through…but I am trying to help both sides for the good of everyone, unlike you. I see two sides of the same wheel and I know dragons and Vikings can live in peace, together. You're basically committing treason by putting your selfish desires high above the needs of Berk. So, for the good of Berk…SHUT YOUR HOLE!"

There was a still silence after her outburst. Stoick was beaming with pride.

Thunder boomed.

"Just look!"

She pointed to the perches. Lightning struck violently again, but as before, only perches were hit then struck the huts.

"The lightning is attracted to the metal! Thor has no control over that Dad, remember back when Hildr killed Dagur? The lightning bolt hit her and her armor lit up with electricity. I designed the suit myself! How else can she ride thunderbolts?"

"I get it." Fishlegs spoke out. "It's like water to a stream, air to the wind."

"Like the male population to you, Hanna." Heather couldn't resist to taunt. Hanna shot her a frown.

"Then that means Thor's power of lightning is simply drawn to so much metal we put up." Stoick said. "But the perches are still a problem.

"Then that means we have to get the perches down." Hanna groaned. "We can't use wood. It burns and not as strong-"

Her father laid a huge hand on her small shoulder. "It's still early, lass. Everyone, get to work!"

As everyone separated, Snotlout watched Mildew waddle off, grumbling, cursing the girl who embarrassed him in front of the whole village.

"You know, I think Thor might be angry at Mildew." He mused to himself. Then he smirked and leaned in to Vipermei and the twins. "I got an idea."

"How alarming." Vipermei retorted with a smirk of her own.

* * *

On the highest point on the island of Berk, a hut and cabbage field stood alone in contented peace…

…until a big dragon with the body of bones dropped a bulky metal statue that oddly resembled a divine Viking right in front of the hut.

"What the?"

Mildew curiously opened his door after hearing a thud and was shocked at his discovery. He heard crackling. He looked up and saw the Boneknapper belonging to Gobber's adopted daughter flying away.

"You'll pay for this!"

Meanwhile, four troublemakers laughed heartily on Zhou's back.

"Thor should be happy with that offering." Snotlout mocked.

Vipermei slapped his arm, laughing. "Great idea, Snothead! But can't we just sacrifice the old goat instead?"

"What goat? Mildew has a sheep." Tuffnut said, confused.

"Sometimes I think we're the smart ones." Ruffnut commented, thinking she was smart.

* * *

In no time, Mildew's little patch of Hel was having the same bad storm earlier. The statue got hit by lightning and struck Mildew right inside his own home, making him scream.


	13. How to Choose Your Dragon

**Disclaimer:** I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. All credits go to Dreamworks.

* * *

Despite the Changewing incident earlier, the lightning brought dragons and Vikings even closer. The villagers got wary of Mildew after Hanna's speech. No one listens to the old coot anymore.

And now, after weeks of training…

" _Whoo, hoo, YEAH!"_

The Dragon Riders were taking the Warriors of Berk to get their own dragons.

"I can't believe we're getting our own dragons!" Fishlegs gushed, sitting on the back of Sea-King while Brant stood on his dragon's head.

"Remember what I taught you. Show you're harmless, approach gently, hold out your hand and wait the dragon to trust you, blah-blah-blah." Hanna reminded.

Alaric, who was riding behind Hanna on Toothless, had his arms wrapped under the swell of her breasts to hold on or else fall overboard. She noticed, tried not to react to his touch, even though her face was sweating red and her breathing was labored. He was looking at the ocean to his right, desperate to distract himself.

"There it is!" Heather called out, with Ruffnut behind her on Loptr. "Dragon Island, dead ahead!"

"Dive down!" Hanna commanded.

The dragons took a sharp nose dive down, either scaring or exciting the Vikings through the rush of air.

"This is awesome and scary!" Tuffnut cheered behind Hildr on Boltstriker.

When they made it to the forest, Vipermei made Zhou zip through the trees agilely, make flips and dives and ups and downs, much to the fear of Snotlout and the joy of Gustav and Kerstin with her. Gustav and Kerstin were cheering, laughing, whooping, as they were actually enjoying the wild ride.

"Watch it! You're leaning too much on your side! Slow down! No! Speed up! Now slow down!"

Snotlout, on the other hand…

"I could've died back there, you beautiful manic! Hey, Mei! _Hellooo?_ I think you missed a branch back there!"

Vipermei scowled, getting irritated his backseat driving, then an idea dinged in her mind.

"Oh really?"

Taking his remark as a challenge, she leaned and made Zhou dived again. A moment, they were back up with Snotlout covered with twigs in uncomfortable places.

"You got it." He moaned, his voice hoarse with twigs in his nose.

The riders landed in the center of the island.

"I have a good idea of what kind of dragon to pair you each up with." Hanna said as she got off Toothless. "The first thing to do…is find a dragon."

"No need. They found us!" Snotlout shrieked, pointing to a dragon jumping out from the bushes. He and his fellow Warriors jumped and clutched their hands out of instinct.

Hanna, on the other hand, was calm. "Oh good. A Gronckle. Fishlegs, you're up."

The large Viking squeaked.

"Go ahead. Do what I've taught ya."

"Oh Thor, oh Thor, oh Thor…!" Fishlegs chanted to himself as he timidly approached the brown Gronckle, hand out. "Hi, Mr. Gronckle."

The Gronckle growled as if insulted.

"Sorry! Mrs. Gronckle! Please don't eat me. I want to be your friend. Please?"

His hand stayed out, this time he gestured more prominently, and looked away.

The Gronckle sniffed his hand, the pupils of her once dangerous eyes grew wide and round, like a pussycat. Then she leaned in, pressing her rough-skinned snout against the large man's palm.

Fishlegs jumped in surprise. Seeing this creature, after being told and reading that dragons are vicious and kill on sight, he felt…touched.

"Aw, aren't you the sweetest thing?" He started gushing over the Gronckle with baby talk. "Yes, you are, yes you are!"

Hanna, though a little sick by the scene, smiled of pride. "Alright, what's next?"

* * *

"Ahh!" Snotlout screamed, bursting out of the trees, an angry Monstrous Nightmare trailing right behind him. "This island is CRAWLING with DRAGONS!"

Heather scoffed. "Yeah. It's called 'Dragon Island' for good reason."

As predicted, Snotlout ignored Hanna's advice and instead used his limited knowledge of dragon slaying by grasping sleeping Monstrous Nightmare's jaw shut to subdue it, however, he wasn't strong enough it keeps it down. The dragon looked smug as it trashed and threw Snotlout about like a ragdoll, and then chomped on him. Snotlout managed to break free, though baring scars and teeth marks, and ran away, with the dragon in pursuit.

Hanna to the rescue.

"Snotlout!"

She came up to his aid.

"It's trying to eat me!"

"Let him!" Vipermei chortled.

"Vipermei, shut it! Snotlout, just follow my lead. I'm gonna guide you through it, ok?"

Snotlout nodded.

With a determined look on her, Hanna stood in the Monstrous Nightmare, making it stop right in front of her.

"First, you bow, to show him respect just as you would to a Viking if you want to earn his trust. Got it?"

Again, Snotlout nodded.

Cousins bowed before the Monstrous Nightmare and, surprisingly, it bowed back.

Hanna approached the dragon and she set her hand gently on its snout. Snotlout watched her with wide, amazed eyes but that amazement vanished into fear and panic when she grabbed his hand.

"Hey, what are-"

"Sh! Relax, Snotlout."

She then placed his hand in place of hers and walked away, leaving him to deal with the dragon.

At first, Snotlout froze, scared that the snout will changed swiftly into teeth and take him in a chomp. But the Monstrous Nightmare only purred, much like a satisfied pussycat. Snotlout begun to laugh, overwhelmed with feelings of shock and wonder.

* * *

The next pairing was more eventful.

Gustav took it upon himself to find himself his own dragon, hoping impress Hanna (and Kerstin. He'd begged Hanna to let her come along.)

He found another Monstrous Nightmare, smaller than Snotlout's and a different color scheme.

He offered it a fish, humble and nervous and excited all in his tinier body. The young Monstrous Nightmare stared down at him, then begun to sniff the food. Its tongue pulled the fish into its mouth and then, quite fast, took Gustav as well in its mouth.

Gustav let out a yell as he was clamped between sharp jaws but none of the teeth were piercing him. He laughed as the tongue rhythmically licked him.

Hanna freaked out. Gustav was just like a little brother to her and watching him practically getting eaten alive gave her a triple heart attack.

"NO! BAD DRAGON! PUT HIM DOWN! HE'S NOT LUNCH!"

"I think that's his way of saying 'hello' or 'thank you'." Brant suggested with a chortle.

Hanna pulled the younger boy out, clothed in a light sheet of slobber.

"That was so cool! Let's try that again!"

"Gustav, no!"

* * *

Fortunately for Hanna, the next pairing was less trouble.

However, the choice of dragon caused a stir.

A purple Whispering Death popped out of the ground, scaring away the Gronckle Hanna picked out for Kerstin.

The girl of that name stood in its way.

"Kerstin. Don't. Move." Hanna hissed cautiously.

Kerstin nodded, scared stiff. Then she noticed a tree root stuck between its teeth, most likely the reason of its blind rage. With no hint of fear, she grabbed onto to the root and yanked it out fast. The dragon screamed but Kerstin didn't move. She held out her hand, palm out and looked straight at the Whispering Death intently. Bulging white eyes studied her, noting her bold kindness and bravery, and then closed as it leaned forward, bumping its forehead against her palm.

Kerstin then removed her armwarmers, using the items to rub the dragon's teeth, making it purr. Apparently Whispering Deaths loves getting its teeth brushed.

This made Hanna very impressed, the best she'd seen all day.

In agreement, Gustav sighed dreamily.

* * *

The Hideous Zippleback was a perfect choice for the twins.

The twins both went to approach the dragon Hanna picked for them but ended up fighting over gets to do it first. Wrestling in the dirt, rolling in the grass, arguing in their faces.

"Me first!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

Hanna groaned in annoyance. "For the love of Thor! Really?"

But before she could even think of stopping them, the heads of the Zippleback swiftly bite down on the twins and lifted them apart, heads in mouths. But even that didn't stop the siblings from fighting in midair.

Hanna wasn't sure if this was good or bad.

Definitely weird.

"Ok…"

* * *

And last but not least, Alaric's turn.

Hanna thought long and hard for the perfect dragon for him. Something fast, something fierce, something smart, something gorgeous…

The Deadly Nadder.

She found one, a nimble female.

She attempted to remind Alaric of the but he brushed her off, already going off to do this on his own.

First, he came up from behind the Deadly Nadder. But she noticed him in the corner of her eyes, squawked and spines came flying. He jumped away just in time to dodge the poisonous spines, not a scratch on him, moving agilely with spikes launching at high and low, swirls and straight lines, like arrows coming from an enemy line. He laughed, enjoying that little workout. The Nadder was just as spiritedly as him, so energetic and prepared for battle. Perfect for training. Another reason why the chief's daughter picked that specific out for him.

He laid down his hands in a calming gesture. "Easy, girl…"

He approached her from behind again, moving slowly, showing he was not a threat. He even didn't bring his axe along for the ride.

The Deadly Nadder studied him intensely, taking in his surrender. Then, her eyes lost its slits to round pupils. She let down her tail, beckoning him to touch it. He gently smoothed down her spines on her tail. He loved the touch of her unexpected suave skin. One single touch gave him the same feeling he'd got from flying with Hanna on Toothless.

He did it.

He tamed a dragon.

With a shy smile, he glanced over his shoulder to witness Hanna standing, a look of impressment upon her. A big, wide grin beaming off her face. Now he was the only feeling proud.

Until Snotlout ruined it.

"Hey, Hanna, did you know that when Alaric tried to train dragons before you came back, he tried do that with Terrible Terrors and ended up in Gothi's with two black eyes?"

 **POW! POW!**

"Ow…"

"Now you have them too."

* * *

"Should we really be doing this?"

"What better way to bond with your dragon with a little trust exercise."

"This isn't a little trust exercise! You fell off your dragon! OVER THE FREAKING OCEAN!"

"Correction, I _voluntarily_ fell off my dragon and trusted him to catch me over the ocean."

"And it was awesome!"

"You are so damn cocky."

"Relax, guys. Try to get least bond with your dragon."

"Uh, my idea of bonding with my dragon is to bring her home and feeding her the finest rocks Berk has to offer." Fishlegs admitted, earning a lick from his Gronckle, christened Meatlug. In less than an hour, he was already pampering his dragon and she was spoiling him right back.

"Suck it up, Fishface! Get a load of this!" Snotlout gave out a hearty whoop before slipping off his Monstrous Nightmare, which he proclaimed as Hookfang, slipped off.

However, Hookfang kept on flying, not even noticing the lack of weight on his back.

"Uh, should we tell Hookfang that his rider is falling to his death?" Tuffnut asked.

"Nah. Let him sleep on it." Ruffnut answered nonchalantly.

The twins sat on the heads of their Zippleback. Ruffnut got the right head that releases gas, dubbed Barf, and Tuffnut got the left that sparks the fire, dubbed Belch.

They were the perfect match, both pranksters.

Before they left the island, they managed to set a lake on fire.

Don't ask.

Hanna rolled her eyes and had to ask. "Uh, Hookfang? Missing something?"

Hookfang glanced to her, snapping out of his daydream, and looked down, seeing the human man she got partnered with rocketing downward with an expression of both anger and irritation.

"NOT FEELING THE TRUST!"

Hookfang wasted no time in flying down and catching him though.

" _Whoo-ho-hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"_

Gustav's smaller Monstrous Nightmare, named Fanghook, flew right pass Hanna, the young boy waving his arms in the air, throwing safety lesson into the wind. Hanna shook her head at his act, smiling.

Zhao passed her next. Kerstin's new Whispiering Death, appropriately named 'Helhiss', curled up in a ball, shielding its eyes from the sun, Kerstin right beside him.

Stormfly flew in the air, fast and graceful at the same time, much to the enjoyment of her new rider. Alaric grasped the handle of dragon riding so well. It made her heart swell with pride. And something else.

"Hey, Hanna, are you losing your touch? Looking pretty _slow_ back there!"

Vipermei rocketed straight pass the Nightfury.

"Just taking a breather, Mei." Hanna said before she picked up speed, soaring right to the front of the flock.

Heading home.

No. Berk.

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Right?


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